I  ANN  A -A* 
ROGERS. 


We  NEIL 

334  D 


0. 


VS.  A-. 


PEACE    AND 
THE     VICES 


PEACE    AND 
THE     VICES 


BY 

ANNA   A.   ROGERS 

AUTHOR   OF   "SWEETHEARTS  AND   WIVES' 


"  The  common  notion  that  peace  and  the  virtues  of  civil 
life  flourished  together,  I  found  to  be  wholly  untenable.  Peace 
and  the  vices  of  civil  life  only  flourish  together." — RUSKIN. 


CHARLES   SCRIBNER'S    SONS 
NEW  YORK  :::::::::::::::::  1904 


COPYRIGHT,  1904,  BY 
CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 


Published,  March,  1904 


00 

THE    MEMORY  OF 

MY     MOTHER 


2229142 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

I.  SHORE  DUTY  ENDED  BY  ORDERS  TO  SEA   .    I 

ii.    DORA'S  SECRET 32 

III.  LIFE  UNDER  THE  "LONE  PINE"  .  .  .  .  51 

IV.  TWO  CABLEGRAMS  FROM  HONG  KONG  .  .  69 

V.  FELLOWES  IS  MISSING 93 

VI.  UNDER  THE  CAMPHOR-TREES IO8 

VII.  KENT  GOES  DOWN  TO  HIS  JUDGMENT  .  .121 

VIII.  TOO  MANY  CHAPERONES 140 

IX.  UNDER  ARREST 163 

X.  MAMMY  SEES  THE  "WHITE  LIGHT"  .  .173 

XI.  THE  FEAST  OF  LANTERNS 185 

XII.  THE    COURT-MARTIAL    CONVENES      ....    205 

xni.    A  TEN  O'CLOCK  GUN 223 

XIV.  SECOND    DAY    OF    THE    COURT-MARTIAL     .       .    235 

XV.     A    LAUGH    AND    A    BLOW 249 

XVI.     LAST    WEEKS    IN    NAGASAKI 267 

XVII.     THE    WIFE'S    REWARD 289 


PEACE  AND  THE  VICES 

CHAPTER  I 

SHORE  DUTY  ENDED  BY  ORDERS  TO  SEA 

"  Some  with  lives  that  came  to  nothing,  tome  with  deeds  as  well  undone." 

IT  was  early  June,  and  one  of  those  warm,  re- 
laxing, humid  days  when  Italy  plucks  at  the 
sleeve  allusively. 

The  Departments  still  impounded  the  human 
usury  levied  on  the  politicians  by  mongering  con- 
stituencies. Speeding  westward  along  the  broad, 
deserted  Avenue  was  a  cable-car  half-filled  with 
the  Capital's  usual  off-hour,  off-season  ethnologic 
medley. 

Whites  and  blacks,  and  hybrids;  a  few  rich,  a 
few  poor,  the  many  in  between.  Belated  marketers 
with  bulging  baskets  from  which  came  the  crude 
odor  of  uncooked  things ;  shoppers  returning  from 
a  morning  of  soul-rending  compromises,  thankful 
to  have  saved  car-fare  from  the  frenzy. 

In  one  corner  huddled  a  shabby,  uncatalogued 
i 


PEACE   AND    THE    VICES 

creature  in  pitiful,  persistent  mourning.  She  was 
old  and  broken,  shrunk  in  a  sort  of  fidgety  stupor, 
the  cause  of  which  was  supplied  by  the  bloated 
face  and  vinous  breath.  The  knotted  fingers 
worked  incessantly  at  the  corner  of  her  rusty  cape. 
Opposite  her,  and  deploring  it,  was  the  familiar 
figure  in  Washington  of  a  vulgar  old  dandy, 
dressed  twenty  years  too  youthfully  and  quite  ten 
behind  the  fashion  of  the  day.  The  former  fact 
even  he  might  have  been  brought  to  admit ;  in  de- 
fence of  the  latter,  he  would  have  died.  Day  after 
day,  in  his  goings  and  comings,  he  tested  his  waning 
attractiveness  upon  every  pretty  woman  whose 
eyes  he  could  impel;  day  after  day,  of  late,  the 
pathos  of  uncertainty  was  slowly  turning  into  the 
grim  tragedy  of  fact.  And  still  he  fought  on  bit- 
terly against  entire  displacement  in  the  eyes  of  the 
feminine  world;  where  it  could  be  humorously 
seen,  he  had  once  reigned  in  dwarfed  surround- 
ings. He  felt  the  challenge  in  the  brutal  youth 
and  good  looks  of  the  entirely  unconscious  little 
attache  leaning  against  the  doorway,  at  the  end 
of  the  car,  keeping  his  balance  braced  by  one  dark, 
well-kept,  spatulate  hand,  on  which  were  three 
rings.  Every  line  of  his  face  and  perfectly  clad 
figure  was  tense  with  his  scorn  of  things  American. 

2 


ORDERS  TO  SEA 

Obliquely  opposite  the  old  beau,  was  a  pair  of 
pretty  brown  eyes  that  saw  him  not,  never  dream- 
ing of  the  dire  offence  of  blindness  that  would 
send  him  to  his  hall-bedroom  home  stricken, 
bent,  haunted,  cursing  himself  for  so  passionately 
caring. 

The  unwitting  offender  was  a  young  woman, 
well-dressed,  and  fair  to  look  upon,  a  face  full  of 
grave  sweetness,  strength,  and  sanity. 

No  life  of  them  all,  thus  temporarily  collocated, 
but  was  worth  the  telling,  but  hap-hazard  from 
among  that  earful,  the  thread  of  one  is  lifted  and 
followed  for  a  little. 

She  of  the  madonna-like  brow  and  eyes  (who 
had  seen  no  one  in  the  car  save  the  old  tipsy  wom- 
an drowsing  in  the  corner  beside  her,  over  whom 
her  regard  brooded  with  a  strange  solicitude)  got 
off  at  the  Navy  Department. 

She  walked  lightly  up  the  broad  stairway,  and 
in  the  great  dim  resounding  corridor  above,  she 
took  the  elevator.  On  an  upper  floor  she  stopped 
at  a  door  beside  which  sat  an  ancient  messenger, 
who  had  seen  six  administrations  come  and  go, 
and  had  learned  the  value  of  silence. 

Greeting  him  familiarly,  the  young  woman 
wrote  something  on  her  card,  and  said: 

3 


PEACE   AND   THE   VICES 

"Please,  O'Rourke,  take  this  in  to  my  brother, 
Lieutenant  Talty.  Don't  leave  it,  if  he  is  not 
there." 

After  a  moment  he  shuffled  back,  anxious  for 
another  word  from  the  little  lady  who  never  for- 
got to  ask  about  his  rheumatism,  in  that  soft  voice 
that  somehow  gave  one's  private  affairs  their  just 
importance. 

But  Lieutenant  Talty,  albeit  short  and  stout, 
proved  too  quick  for  him,  and  called  out  over 
O'Rourke's  stooping  shoulders: 

"Hullo,  Dora!  What's  up?  What  will  Pel- 
lowes  say  to  your  coming  alone  to  the  Department 
and  sending  brazenly  in  for  the  best-looking  chap 
in  the  building,  eh?" 

She  smiled,  placed  her  hand  on  his  arm,  saying : 

"Jack,  I  must  see  you  at  once  about — some- 
thing. Where  can  we  go?" 

"That  spells  lunch !  An  ice-cream  soda  wouldn't 
fill  the  bill?"  he  coaxed. 

"Listen,  Jack — I  don't  want  to  eat,  I  only  want 
to  talk." 

"'Only!'  and  I  so  young,  alone,  and  unpre- 
pared!" 

"Do  be  serious.     I  want  your  advice." 

"My  what?  At  last  I  grasp  the  full  horror  of 
4 


ORDERS   TO   SEA 

this  scene !  If  I  get  out  of  this  short  of  eighteen 
dollars,  it  will  be  due  to  a  superior  article  in  gray, 
hidden  behind  this  Doric  facade!"  thumping  his 
brow;  then  as  he  saw  his  sister's  lips  begin  to 
tremble,  he  added  hastily:  "There,  there,  old 
girl !  I'll  be  back  in  a  minute,  as  soon  as  I  shuffle 
off  this  official  coil." 

When  he  returned  they  went  down  together  to 
the  blazing  entrance,  whence  they  instinctively 
sought  the  cool  shade  and  privacy  of  Lafayette 
Square  at  two  in  the  afternoon. 

Not  until  they  were  seated  on  one  of  the  benches, 
did  Dora  Fellowes  break  into  her  brother's  unre- 
mitting little  stream  of  nonsense. 

"Jack!"  she  ejaculated,  and  then  withdrew  into 
a  reserve,  evidently  habitual,  her  eyes  running 
swiftly  from  one  object  to  another,  as  if  again 
testing  alternative  exits  that  would  leave  her  the 
great  privilege  of  silence. 

He  turned  and  looked  keenly  at  her,  serious  at 
last. 

"Kent?"  he  asked.  She  nodded  slowly,  then 
bethought  herself  and  cried  out  sharply: 

"Oh,  nol  not  what  you  are  thinking.  No!" 
she  repeated  with  an  indignation  that  made  the 
man's  eyes  soften  as  he  watched  her. 

5 


PEACE   AND   THE   VICES 

"Do  you  think,  Jack  dear,  it's  wrong  for  a  wife 
to  ask  advice  in  any  private  matter  connected  with 
her  husband?"  she  finally  asked. 

"On  the  contrary,  I  could  easily  imagine  times 
when  it  would  be  both  weak  and  what  you — bless 
your  heart ! — call  wrong,  not  to.  There  are  a  lot 
of  derelict  ethics  floating  'round  loose,  honey. 
Keep  your  rudder  clear  of  'em,  if  you  can." 

"Kent's  orders  came  this  morning." 

"Well,  he's  been  on  the  lookout  for  them  for 
a  month,  I  don't  exactly  see " 

"He's  ordered  to  the  Asiatic  Station,"  she  said 
slowly. 

"To  thunder  he  is!  Why,  Dora,  he  was  slated 
for  the  Home  Squadron — saw  the  detail  myself! 
And  the  other  night  at  the  Army  and  Navy  Club 
Rummels  vowed " 

"Mr.  Peterson  wanted  the  'Dolphin,'  and  Mr. 
Peterson  of  course  got  it.  Senator  Guppy,  you 
know." 

"Now,  little  woman,  don't  be  nasty.  If  we  had 
a  Guppy  we'd  work  him  too  1" 

"What  I  want  to  know  is:  oughtn't  I  to  go 
too?  And  if  so,  how  can  I  make  Kent  consent 
to  it?" 

He  faced  her  with  sudden  excitement. 
6 


ORDERS    TO    SEA 

"Dora,  listen  to  me !  Let  nothing  keep  you  on 
this  side  of  the  world — nothing !  There's  no  ques- 
tion about  it." 

"Unfortunately  there  are  several  questions 
about  it.  Oh,  can't  you  see  how  complicated  it  is? 
I  took  it  for  granted  I  was  to  go,  and  he — you 
know  how  sensitive  he  is — he  immediately  thought 
I  did  not  trust  him.  He  will  not  look  at  it  in  any 
other  light.  And  then  he  says  we  can't  afford 
such  a  journey;  and  then  there's  baby — O  Jack!" 
she  turned  her  head  away  pressing  her  hands  to- 
gether nervously. 

"I  see,  I  see,"  he  mused;  adding  suddenly: 

"Now  you  brace  up,  old  lady,  and  leave  it  to  me 
— the  whole  thing.  I  give  you  my  word  of  honor 
I'll  not  fail  you.  You  play  the  pliable-wife  act 
for  a  few  days — all  the  same  lay  low  and  get 
ready  to  go.  See  ?  By  the  bye,  how  do  the  orders 
read?" 

"  'Take  steamer  sailing  from  San  Francisco  not 
later  than  June  twenty-first.'  Kent  says  he'll  have 
to  start  a  week  from  to-morrow." 

"Dora — er — have  you  seen  Imogen?" 

"Not  yet,  I'm  going  there  now." 

"Well — "  it  was  his  turn  to  hesitate — "if  I 
were  you  I'd  sort  of  skim  over  this  matter  lightly 

7 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

with  her — very  lightly  indeed;  and,  Dora,  don't 
say  you've  seen  me  to-day." 

They  arose  and  walked  across  the  park  to  the 
carette  station  at  the  corner,  and  as  he  helped  her 
in,  he  said  abruptly: 

"Jove,  I  forgot!  what's  the  ship?" 

"  'Boston,'  "  she  replied  over  her  shoulder  as 
the  vehicle  lumbered  forward  with  a  lurch.  She 
turned  and  watched  with  loving  eyes  the  sturdy 
little  figure  crossing  the  Avenue  with  the  long  dis- 
proportionate stride  of  a  man  who  lives  in  habitual 
protest  against  a  small  and  unworthy  exterior. 

At  the  red  brick  boarding-house  on  a  side  street, 
Mrs.  Fellowes  rang  ineffectually  many  times  be- 
fore the  colored  maid  opened  the  door.  There 
was  about  her  a  certain  smiling  familiarity  of  man- 
ner that  was  not  without  interest  to  one  not  living 
in  daily  contact  with  it.  After  a  still  longer  delay, 
the  response  to  Dora's  inquiry  wandered  back: 

"Mrs.  Talty's  out.  She's  been  out  all  day, 
'Liza  she  says,  m'm." 

As  Mrs.  Fellowes  went  down  the  steps,  a  voice 
came  from  within  raised  in  song,  dying  away  as 
the  maid  sauntered  back  to  her  ever-belated  work, 
which  she  tasted  slowly  as  if  it  were  pleasure,  in- 
stead. 

8 


ORDERS    TO    SEA 

Dora  Fellowes  returned  to  the  Navy  Yard  and 
turning  to  the  right  from  the  gate,  she  soon  came 
in  sight  of  her  veranda,  where  a  girl's  white-clad 
figure  was  pacing  back  and  forth  with  a  baby  in 
her  arms. 

"How's  she  been?"  called  out  the  young  mother 
as  she  opened  the  low  iron  gate,  and  smiled  up  into 
the  bright  face  of  her  young  sister,  who  had  made 
her  home  with  her  since  their  father's  death  two 
years  before. 

"Lift  not  the  curtain  from  a  fearful  past,  fond 
mamma !  Be  thankful  with  me,  she's  like  a  mouse 
now — sound." 

"Now,  Dell,  was  she  really  troublesome?"  was 
asked  incredulously,  as  the  mother  took  the  child 
hungrily  into  her  arms,  and  sat  down  then  and  there 
for  a  loving  inspection  of  her  treasure. 

"  'Was  she  troublesome !'  My  dear,  I'm  a 
wreck,  a  neurasthenic  wreck !  Look  at  that  hand  1" 
exclaimed  Dell,  holding  it  out  for  inspection  and 
burlesquing  agitation. 

"Nonsense!  Of  course  she  is  heavy  for  her 
age." 

The  girl  lifted  both  hands  in  speechless  recogni- 
tion of  the  irremediable,  and  turned  away  and 
seated  herself  upon  the  low  rail  of  the  veranda. 

9 


PEACE   AND    THE   VICES 

The  only  points  of  resemblance  between  Adele 
Talty  and  her  older  sister  lay  in  the  extreme  sensi- 
bility of  both  their  faces,  and  in  their  voices, 
strongly  southern  in  accent. 

Miss  Talty's  greatest  external  credential  was 
her  coloring,  not  having  really  much  more  regular- 
ity of  feature  than  Jack  himself. 

A  pile  of  glistening  reddish-brown  hair;  eyes 
that  matched  with  jet  black  lashes  and  eyebrows; 
a  clear,  very  pale  skin ;  vividly  scarlet  lips,  all  went 
to  produce  an  almost  artificial  effect,  in  the  con- 
tention of  a  few  people — but  who  has  not  his  de- 
tractors, even  in  a  Navy  Yard? 

It  is  almost  unnecessary  to  add  that  she  had 
actively  detested  her  own  particular  type  of  unde- 
niable beauty  all  her  life,  vanity  among  women 
taking  much  more  often  the  negative  form  of  self- 
depreciation  than  the  positive  one  commonly  ac- 
corded to  it. 

"See  Jack's  wife?"  the  girl  asked,  swinging  a 
tennis-clad  foot. 

"No,  I  called,  but  Imogen,  as  usual,  was  out." 

"Well,  you  were  gone  long  enough  to  have  both 
seen  and — heard  her.  At  least  so  it  struck  my 
febrile  fancy  with  Julie  yelling  in  my  ears  like  an 
adult  fog-horn." 

10 


ORDERS    TO    SEA 

"ODell!" 

"O  Dora!  I'll  leave  it  to  Doctor  Robb;  he 
came  in  to  see  what  on  top  of  creation  was  the 
matter  with  her." 

"He  may  have  come  in,  but  that  wasn't  his  rea- 
son, miss." 

"If  you  insist  on  details,  here  they  are!  At  ten 
minutes  past  two,  the  hour-hand  and  the  minute- 
hand  settled  right  down  together  for  a  gossip  and 
a  dish  of  tea,  or  a  late  lunch — I  could  not  quite 
make  it  out — all  I'm  sure  about  is  that  there  they 
sat,  and  hobnobbed  for  two  hours — two — I  sha'n't 
take  off  a  second.  And  the  entire  time  Julie  was 
black  in  the  face  touched  up  with  purple  polka 
dots;  and  I  was  sage-green  and  white,  in  stripes; 
the  doctor  particularly  dwelt  upon  it  with  scientific 
interest.  I'm  astonished  you  didn't  hear  her  your- 
self, my  dear." 

"Dell,  you  are  worse  than  Jack!  I  never  saw 
such  a  pair  of  clowns  as  you  two  are  when  you 
once  get  started." 

"My  angel,  haven't  you  observed  that  we  Taltys 
do  everything  well,  even  to  playing  the  fool?  Of 
course  you  are  not  as  talented  as  we  are — Jack 
and  I — but  in  your  own  obscure  way  you  are  just 
as  thorough." 

II 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

Dora  said  nothing  then,  nor  during  the  evening, 
of  her  visit  to  the  Department. 

After  luncheon,  two  days  later,  the  sisters  were 
sitting  together  embarked  upon  the  wide  sea  of 
dress  discussion,  surrounded  by  a  fog  of  pale  ecru 
point  d' esprit. 

"Red,  with  your  hair?"  ventured  Mrs.  Fellowes 
with  proper  timidity,  when  her  sister  announced 
with  the  aggressiveness  of  secret  doubt,  a  projected 
garniture  of  scarlet  geranium. 

"'Red  with  my  hair!'  'Repeat  your  color,' 
says  a  nation  that  ought  to  know ;  and  I  say  again, 
'I  shall  be  a  dream!'  Perhaps  a  trifle  feverish, 
I'll  admit.  But  I  do  nothing  thoughtlessly — there 
is  a  man  going  to  this  hop  whose  sleep  I  have  never 
disturbed.  I've  marked  him  for  insomnia's  own. 
This  confection,  with  me  for  a  'filling,'  is  about 
to  accomplish  it."  As  she  said  the  last  word  there 
was  a  loud  ringing  of  the  front-door  bell,  that 
had  its  own  voice  differentiated  from  that  of  all 
others,  after  the  manner  of  bells;  and  before  the 
housemaid  could  by  any  human  possibility  finish 
doing  that  one  thing  that  seems  to  become  vitally 
essential  when  a  household  bell  sounds,  there  came 
a  louder  peal. 

"Imogen!"  said  Dell  with  conviction,  her  hands 

raised  in  despair. 

12 


ORDERS    TO    SEA 

"Now,  don't  tease  her,  Dell,"  begged  Dora 
drearily. 

"That  great  camelopard  of  a  thing!"  scorned 
the  other. 

"O  girls!  have  you  heard?"  came  in  resonant 
tones  from  the  hall  below  before  the  front  door 
was  fairly  ajar.  There  was  a  great  rustling  of 
draperies,  a  stumbling  step  running  up  the  stairs, 
and  a  very  tall,  very  thin  woman  burst  in  upon 
them.  Her  hat  was  awry  on  her  small  head,  her 
black  hair  hung  in  strings  all  around  her  sallow 
face  and  neck.  She  had  huge  faded  gray  eyes  with 
dilated  pupils;  a  large  nervous  mouth  which  had 
an  exaggerated  looseness  of  movement.  Her  voice 
was  unexpectedly  deep. 

Before  any  greetings  were  exchanged,  she 
tumbled  into  a  chair  and  gasped: 

"Jack's  ordered  to  Asia  !" 

"You  mean  Kent,  Imogen.  I  went  to  tell  you 
day  before  yesterday  but " 

"I  mean  my  husband — Jack  Talty !"  was  reiter- 
ated wildly. 

Dora  looked  quickly  up  from  her  work.  Dell 
went  quietly  on  measuring  off  the  net  for  a  final 
flounce,  holding  it  to  her  nose-tip  with  the  left 
hand,  and  stretching  it  out  along  her  right  arm 

13 


PEACE   AND   THE   VICES 

with  a  repeated  sweep,  counting  in  a  detached 
monotone:  "five,  six,  seven,  eight " 

"I've  just  come  from  the  Secretary!"  an- 
nounced Mrs.  Talty,  spurred  to  it  by  the  failure 
to  produce  the  effect  she  expected. 

"Imogen!"  cried  both  sisters,  Dora  in  reproach, 
Dell  in  evident  anger,  her  hands  dropping  to  her 
sides,  as  she  stood  glaring  at  her  sister-in-law. 

"Yes,  and  he  was  just  as  nice  as  could  be,  and 
such  a  smile!" 

"I  can  readily  imagine  you  brought  out  the — 
er — sunny  side  of  his  nature !"  muttered  Dell. 

"He  had  on  one  of  those  new  sporty  waistcoats 
that  made  me  feel  at  home  with  him  at  once, 
and " 

"Just  why?"  snapped  Dell. 

"And  so  I  was  perfectly  frank  with  him — in 
fact  he  became  interested  and  drew  me  out,  no  one 
could  have  listened  more  cordially.  Jack's  entitled 
to  six  months  more  shore  duty;  and  there  are  men 
who  haven't  smelt  sea-air  for  five  years  right  here 
under  his  very  nose.  Oh,  yes,  and  he  asked  their 
names  and  I  gave  them !  And  then  Jack  was  out 
on  that  horrid  old  station  before,  where  during 
the  rainy  season  you  can  pick  mushrooms  off  your 
best  shoes  every  morning." 

14 


ORDERS    TO    SEA 

"How  convenient!" 

"Oh,  you  needn't  stand  there,  Adele  Talty,  with 
that  superior  smile.  You  haven't  scraped  the  mil- 
dew off  your  face  in  Hong  Kong  before  you  could 
get  down  to  washing  it ;  and  sent  to  the  oven  for  a 
dress  to  get  into  and  rush  to  a  tea  before  it  wilts 
again!  You  haven't  flopped  about  between  Che- 
mulpo, and  Shanghai,  and  Tientsin  and  hardly 
time  for  laundrying!" 

"Did  the  Secretary  perchance  hear  any  of 
this?"  teased  the  red-haired  one. 

"Why,  of  course !  And  I  know  he  was  im- 
pressed because  he  rang  his  bell  and  told  the  mes- 
senger to  say  he  was  engaged.  And  then  I  ended 
by  reminding  him  that  Jack  comes  up  for  examina- 
tion for  his  next  grade  in  six  months.  Why  every- 
thing's against  his  going." 

"Except  the  fact  that  he  was  ordered,"  sug- 
gested Dell  coldly. 

"The  worst  of  it  is  I  can  feel  it  in  my  bones " 

"Poor  Imogen!" 

" that  Jack's  going.  There's  a  look  in  his 

eyes  that  I  know — "  her  voice  broke  and  tears 
began  to  well  up  and  overflow.  Soon  she  was  full 
length  upon  the  lounge,  weeping  without  restraint. 

Dell  swept  up  her  belongings  and  left  the  room. 
15 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

Imogen  had  been  hopelessly  on  her  nerves  for  five 
years;  they  had  not  a  thought  in  common  except 
their  mutual  dislike. 

Mrs.  Fellowes  breathed  more  easily  after  her 
sister  had  gone,  and  essayed  the  soothing  of  the 
supine  figure  of  woe. 

Presently  Dora  suggested,  her  intent  always 
kindly : 

"Kent  has  to  go  too,  Imogen." 

Mrs.  Talty  sat  bolt  upright. 

"Kent's  entirely  different.  His  time  is  up  for 
sea,  he's  never  been  out  there!  It's  cholera,  ty- 
phoons, earthquakes,  or  missionaries,  in  one  endless 
round.  They  persist — I  mean  the  missionaries — 
in  going  to  China  and  saving  souls  that  don't  in  the 
least  want  to  be  saved  (and  what's  more  oughtn't 
to  be,  if  there's  going  to  be  any  really  nice  society 
in  heaven!).  Then  comes  'murder  and  sudden 
death'  and  no  time  for  'battle'  and  a  ship  is  sent 
to  restore  order,  and  the  wardroom  have  to  give 
up  their  state-rooms  to  the  women  and  children 
and  live  like  pigs  in  a  poke — what  on  earth's  a 
poke,  Dora?  I  ask  you,  Dora  Fellowes,  then 
what  happens  ?  Our  poor  boys  are  maligned  as  a 
godless  lot  of  heathens,  and  prayed  for  at  meet- 
ings— openly  prayed  for!  Can  you  imagine  such 
ingratitude?"  , 


ORDERS    TO    SEA 

"Imogen,  my  dear!"  laughed  Dora. 

Mrs.  Talty  had  talked  herself  into  her  normal 
degree  of  composure,  and  at  last  the  other  asked 
the  questions  that  stirred  within  her: 

"What  ship  is  Jack  ordered  to?" 

"The  same  one  that  Kent  is  under  orders  for — 
the  'Boston.'  " 

Dora's  face  flushed  with  rising  emotion. 

"When  did  he  tell  you?" 

"Yesterday  evening.  He  came  home  very  late 
from  the  Department.  What  upset  me  was  the 
queer  way  he  actually  urged  me  to  stay  home  this 
time.  As  if  I'd  let  him  go  out  there  alone! 
Dora — "  she  suddenly  interjected,  leaning  for- 
ward and  touching  her  companion's  knee — "the 
women  out  there,  the  Europeans,  flirt  like  the  very 
— well,  they  do!  Go?  I'd  go  if  I  had  elephanti- 
asis, neuritis,  and  creeping  necrosis  all  over  me — 
I  don't  know  what  any  of  them  are,  but  they  sound 
awful — and  still  I'd  go !" 

Dora  had  heard  nothing  since  the  direct  answers 
to  her  questions,  and  sat  saying  over  and  over  to 
herself: 

"Dear,  dear  old  Jack!  He  has  sacrificed  him- 
self for  my  sake." 

Before  Imogen  left,  Kent  Fellowes  came  in  with 
17 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

his  brother-in-law,  Jack,  who  announced  that  he 
was  going  to  stay  to  dinner  and  settle  their  plans, 
once  for  all. 

Lieutenant  Fellowes  was  a  tall  spare  man,  with 
a  between-deck  stoop  of  the  high  shoulders;  a  keen 
grave,  tense  face,  with  sad  eyes.  A  silent  man  with 
helpful  sympathetic  ways  about  his  house.  His 
thin  conic-fingered  hands  were  endlessly  restless. 

Jack  assured  his  wife  at  once  that  there  was  no 
chance  whatever  of  the  revocation  of  his  orders, 
and  if  she  cared  to  go  again  out  to  the  despised 
station,  all  she  had  to  do  was  to  get  ready — he 
would  sail  with  Kent  on  the  twenty-first. 

Thereupon  Imogen  became  hysterical,  and 
among  other  things,  her  visit  to  the  Secretary  of 
the  Navy  came  out  quite  against  her  intention. 
The  others  incontinently  fled  from  the  room,  al- 
most falling  over  one  another  in  their  eagerness. 

Talty's  ruddy  face  slowly  paled,  he  looked  up 
and  down  his  tall  wife's  comfortless  figure  in  help- 
less fury.  Then  without  a  word  he  stalked  to  the 
window  and  drummed  on  the  panes  with  his  pudgy 
little  hands. 

Imogen  followed  and  stood  stricken  beside  him. 
By  far  the  most  wearing  feature  of  Talty's  mis- 
alliance was  the  fact  that  his  wife  loved  him. 

18 


ORDERS    TO    SEA 

"Jack,  please  speak  to  me!  Swear,  if  you  want 
to !  only  say  something  to  me." 

"I  have  nothing  new  to  say,  Imogen." 

"I  did  it  impulsively,  you  know  my  way." 

"So?"  There  was  a  silence  and  then  he  turned 
and  said  harshly : 

"Will  you  never  comprehend  that  the  one  thing 
I  will  not  stand  is  your  fingers  meddling  in  my 
official  life  ?  This  is  the  second  time  that  you  have 
dared  to —  Oh,  what  earthly  use  is  it  to  talk  to 
you !"  He  turned  away  abruptly  and  left  the 
room,  joining  Fellowes  in  his  den,  where  together 
they  packed  books  and  pictures  until  dinner-time. 
It  was  about  all  the  packing  there  was  to  be  done, 
the  furniture  in  the  quarters  belonging  to  the  Gov- 
ernment. 

Then  dinner  was  announced  and  served  by  a 
tall,  very  erect,  very  black  negress,  dressed  in  black 
relieved  by  a  spotless  white  kerchief,  deep  cuffs, 
and  apron;  about  her  very  well-shaped  head  was 
tied  a  white  silk  bandanna,  two  ends  of  which  stood 
up  in  front  like  a  rabbit's  ears  listening. 

At  the  table  one  place  remained  empty,  and 
Dora,  who  looked  a  little  weary,  explained  that 
Imogen  had  a  slight  headache  and  did  not  care  for 
any  dinner. 

19 


PEACE   AND   THE   VICES 

There  was  a  moment's  silence  as  the  soup  was 
served,  during  which  the  thought  vibrations  in  the 
room  seemed  almost  phonetic,  and  the  family 
avoided  one  another's  eyes. 

While  Lieutenant  Fellowes  was  carving  the 
roast,  Jack  said  aside  to  Dora : 

"I  believe,  if  you'll  excuse  me,  I'll  run  up  and 
see  how  her  head  is." 

When  he  had  gone,  the  three  looked  up  and  ex- 
changed glances,  and  Kent  said : 

"If  ever  there  was  a  masculine  angel — "  leav- 
ing the  sentence  unfinished. 

After  dinner,  over  their  cigars,  Talty  remarked 
mendaciously  to  Fellowes: 

"It  looks  as  if  we'd  have  to  give  in  to  the  girls, 
and  take  them  along,  doesn't  it,  old  man  ?"  Low- 
ering his  voice  he  added  with  a  roguish  eye,  be- 
fore the  other  could  reply: 

"The  fact  is,  Imogen  has  got  it  into  her  head 
that  I'm  a  sort  of  suppressed  Lovelace  (wasn't  that 
the  name  of  that  dead  game  sport  of  the  last  cen- 
tury?) and  that  all  I'm  waiting  for  is  a  chance. 
She's  not  going  to  give  it  to  me  this  cruise,  that's 
sure !  I — "  he  laughed  comfortably — "I've  often 
wondered,  Kent,  why  marriage  seems  largely 
to  slay  the  power  of  woman  over  a  man;  I  don't 

20 


ORDERS    TO    SEA 

go  further  than  'largely,'  please  note.  Is  it  because 
it  concentrates  It,  or  because  it  destroys  it?" 

"Depends  a  little  on  the  wife  perhaps — either 
way,"  laughed  Kent. 

"I  dare  say,"  grudged  the  other,  suddenly  re- 
alizing that  the  bachelor  rights  to  generalization 
anent  matrimony  were  no  longer  his. 

"Why,  I'd  rather  talk  tobacco  or  even  weather, 
with  a  man,  than  sit  under  a  May  moon  and  ex- 
change goo-goo  eyes  with  Cleopatra  herself,  or — 
or  any  of  those  old  girls." 

"There  was  a  time,  Jack — "  suggested  Kent 
darkly,  smiling  as  he  knocked  the  ashes  off  his 
cigar  end,  with  a  nervous  little  finger. 

"And  that  traitor  sitting  there  (smoking  one  of 
my  cigars,  be  it  observed)  calls  himself  friend!" 
Jack  apostrophized  the  ceiling  with  bitterness. 

After  a  short  silence  Talty  threw  his  cigar  into 
the  empty  grate,  sat  up  and  took  out  his  note-book 
energetically. 

"Look  here,  Kent,  I've  been  making  some 
calculations.  Our  mileage  to  San  Francisco  is  two 
hundred  and  sixty  dollars.  That  will  pay  most  of 
Dora's  and  Imogen's  expenses.  Then  they  are 
allowed  two  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  apiece  trans- 
Pacific  baggage,  as  well  as  ourselves,  so  the  wom- 

21 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

en-folks  will  be  very  little  expense  by  rail.  And 
the  steam-ship  company  gave  my  wife,  last  time, 
missionary  rates — half-fare;  and  I'm  blest  if  she 
didn't  tell  the  agent  she  saw  no  reason  they 
shouldn't;  it  was  only  the  difference  between  look- 
ing after  souls  in  retail  and  wholesale!  That's 
the  fine  thing  about  Imogen,  she  knows  the  ropes 
like  a  C.  S.  C.  with  stripes  to  his  elbows.  Why, 
Kent,  that  woman  knows  more  about  the  Navy 
than  any  man  in  the  service.  She  watches  every 
private  bill  before  Congress,  and  knows  who's 
boosting  it  along;  the  animus  of  the  House 
on  appropriation  bills;  the  bias  pro  or  con  of  the 
Naval  committee,  and  who  holds  the  deciding 
vote,  how  he'll  place  it,  and  by  George,  why! 
Such  trifles  as  my  exact  place  on  the  list,  the  aver- 
age percentages  of  retirements  and  casualties 
(she's  downright  spooky  about  casualties)  are  as 
easy  to  her  as  (now  what's  that  mysterious  thing 
women  do  with  yarn  ?  You  know  they  sit  and  count 
the  stitches  of  it,  and  chatter  like  magpies  about 
something  else  the  whole  blamed  time)  crochet- 
ing? Well,  you  ought  to  know,  Dora  does  it — 
well,  an  hour  back  I  was  saying  that  Navy  politics 
and  policies  were  that  easy  to  Imogen.  I'll  get 
her  some  day  to  show  you  her  Register — ordinary 
Egyptian  hieroglyphics  aren't  in  it," 

22 


ORDERS    TO    SEA 

Nothing  in  life  seemed  to  Kent  more  pathetic 
than  Jack's  inviolable  loyalty  to  his  wife,  in  face 
of  long  dead  illusions. 

"And  Dora  doesn't  know  a  paymaster  from  a 
surgeon  by  his  collar  device,"  Fellowes  said  with 
obvious  complacency. 

"Well,  with  Imogen  to  run  us,  we  can  get  out 
there  without  drawing  more  than  two  months' 
advance  pay.  A  'deadhorse'  of  that  size  is 
easily  worked  off  out  there.  No  crowned  heads 
to  be  feted  to  the  glory  of  Uncle  Sam,  at  our  ex- 
pense, as  in  Europe.  Great  country,  ours,  Kent, 
but  she  isn't  above  letting  her  'servants'  stand 
treat,  is  she  ?  England  pays  less  wages,  but  signs 
her  own  club  dues,  bless  her!" 

"We'll  get  there  by  and  by,"  came  dubiously 
from  his  companion,  carefully  inserting  his  inch 
length  of  tobacco  into  his  amber  mouth-piece. 

"Yes,  but  we  won't  be  there,  by  and  by,  you 
and  I!" 

"Well,  I  suppose  they'd  all  better  go,"  assented 
Kent  presently. 

Jack  rubbed  his  fat  hands  together  joyfully 
under  his  coat-tails  as  he  stood  from  habit,  before 
a  fireless  hearth. 

"Dell's  quite  wild  about  it,  and  is  going  to  take 
Mammy  along  for  the  general  comfort  of  us  all. 

23 


PEACE   AND   THE   VICES 

I  don't  suppose,  as  she  has  her  own  purse,  we  can 
very  well  object,  and  they'll  both  help  Dora  with 
baby."  Jack  threw  down  his  last  card  with  a 
bold  front. 

When  they  joined  the  others  on  the  veranda, 
they  found  them  attacking  the  same  subject  from 
a  purely  feminine  stand-point,  and  a  resurrected 
Imogen  had  the  floor: 

"You  remember  my  old  black  armure  silk, 
Dora?  The  one  I  sponged  off  with  beer  before 
I  went  out  last  time  ?  I  made  it  over  with  a  guimpe 
and  belt  of  cut  jet,  remember?  I  thought  you 
would.  Well,  I  had  not  been  in  Yokohama  a 
month  (at  that  hotel  that  burned  down  later — 
what  was  the  name?  It  began  with  a  W.  Jack, 
surely  you  remember ! ) .  Well,  never  mind :  one 
day  I  opened  my  trunk — the  big  wicker  one  I  got 
at  the  Bon  Marche,  Dora,  you  always  raved  over 
that  top  tray — and  at  once  a  ghastly  odor  came 
forth,  and  I  plunged  in,  and  found  at  the  bottom, 
three  inches  of  gray  fungus.  Between  the  beer 
and  the  dampness  it  was  worse  than  spoiled,  it  was 
putrid!  I  got  the  coolie  to  bury  it." 

"Well,  now  that  it  has  gone  to  its  long  rest, 
perhaps  you'll  tell  us  what  we'll  need  in  the  way 
of  clothes,  anything?" 

24 


ORDERS  TO   SEA 

"There,  Dell!  that's  exactly  what  makes  the 
residents  out  there  so  furious!  The  way  women, 
bringing  letters  to  them,  persist  in  going  out  in 
a  steamer-trunk  containing  two  shirt-waists  and 
one  old  high-necked  Navy  blue  foulard,  and  wear- 
ing a  golf  suit  and  a  last  year's  hat — and  then 
bragging  the  whole  blessed  time  about  the  clothes 
they  left  at  home,  and  rushing  to  Chinese  tailors 
to  get  something  suitable  for  the  Imperial  Flower 
Viewings,  or  the  ball  to  meet  Prince  This  or  That. 
Why,  it's  the  greatest  station  for  clothes!  We 
must  take  all  our  evening  toilets,  whatever  else  we 
leave  behind;  and  something  giddy  for  afternoon 
teas;  and  as  many  hats  as  we  can  jam  in.  Oh, 
yes!  and  gloves  and  shoes  to  burn." 

A  short  altercation  followed  between  Imogen 
and  Adele,  into  which  Dora's  soft  voice  interposed 
peace,  and  Mrs.  Talty  was  once  more  launched 
and  merrily  on  her  way. 

"Then  another  thing:  you  must  decide  where 
you'll  settle  on  the  station.  It's  the  only  way.  I 
tried  knocking  about  for  one  awful  year,  and  it 
played  the  very " 

"Imogen!"  warned  Jack,  persistently  masterful 
in  minor  matters  at  least. 

"I  was  only  going  to  say  'dickens' !  And  you 
25 


PEACE   AND    THE   VICES 

know  perfectly  well,  John  Talty,  that  I  had  to 
have  Ah  Ling  six  weeks — the  fat  old  Chinese  nurse 
who  paid  two  hundred  and  eighty  Mexicans  for 
a  small- footed  wife  for  her  son,  truth,  my  dear!" 

"You  were  talking  of  the  settling  question,"  in- 
terposed Adele  firmly.  The  two  men  sat  in  that 
expedient  silence  induced  by  a  profound  sense  of 
inferiority  in  the  world  feminine. 

"Oh,  yes,  so  I  was !  Well,  I  can't  decide  it  posi- 
tively until  after  I've  met  and  studied  the  ad- 
miral. They  all  have  fads,  admirals,  you  know. 
Corea  was  the  hobby  of  the  one  last  time.  You 
remember,  Jack?  I  rather  thought  you  would. 
If  we  only  have  the  luck  to  strike  one  with  a 
penchant  for  Japan  1  There  was  one  once.  How 
is  old  Titterington  on  that,  boys?  Just  give  me 
half  an  hour  with  him,  and  Jack  not  around 
making  faces  at  me,  and  I'll  settle  the  whole  ques- 
tion." 

"I  do  wish  I  had  your  tact  about  some  things," 
Adele  felt  compelled  to  contribute. 

Imogen  glanced  suspiciously  at  her  sister-in-law 
in  the  half-light  and  then  continued  with  a  slight 
retrenchment  of  tone: 

"It's  knowing  the  ropes,  that's  all.  I  study 
up  on  the  Anglo-Russian,  Chino-Corean- Japanese 

26 


ORDERS  TO   SEA 

cutthroat  game,  and  all  the  other  combinations  or 
alienations,  and  then  when  I  meet  the  command- 
er-in-chief  I  stamp  'round  heavily  till  I  step  on 
whatever's  his  hobby  and  get  a  rise.  Then  I  know 
what's  ahead  of  us.  See?  The  heat  will  be  ter- 
rific just  now,  and  I  propose,  till  September  or 
October,  that  we  go  down  to  Yukosuka  and  take 
a  temple " 

"Do  what?" 

"Rent  a  temple  and  stay  till  it  gets  cooler." 

"Buddha  for  a  summer-boarder!"  shrieked  Dell 
in  delight. 

"No,  no — gentlemanly  landlord !"  chirped  Dora 
gayly. 

"Esoterics  scrambled  on  toast  for  breakfast; 
Vedantism  frappe  for  a  light  hot-weather  tiffin; 
and  Nirvana  piece  montee  for  dinner,  with  a  thick 
cream  sauce,"  Jack  continued  with  unction. 

"And  fat  old  Hotei  for  punkah-wallah!"  con- 
tributed Kent,  the  devourer  of  books. 

Imogen  waited  mirthlessly  until  the  Taltys 
emerged  from  one  of  their  fusillades  of  nonsense, 
which  they  at  least  heartily  relished. 

"Do  they  really  do  it?"  Dora  finally  asked, 
moved  by  her  sister-in-law's  peevish  silence. 

"Why,  of  course.  I  spent  a  month  in  one,  our 
27 


PEACE   AND   THE   VICES 

last  cruise;  our  consul's  sister  and  I  took  it  to- 
gether. We  just  looked  about  till  we  saw  a  temple 
we  took  a  fancy  to,  then  we  hunted  up  the  priest 
and  bought  him.  Then  we  got  the  temple  furni- 
ture cleared  away,  and  there  we  were,  matting 
and  all !  And  you  poke  in  the  walls  as  you  need 
them." 

"What  darksome  deed  is  covered  by  that,  think 
you?"  interrupted  Adele,  and  before  she  and  Jack 
had  emptied  their  overflowing  horn  of  nonsense, 
Imogen  arose,  crossly  demanded  her  hat  and  her 
husband,  and  said  good-night,  and  went  back  to 
the  city. 

Dell  flew  upstairs  to  dress  for  the  weekly  hop 
in  the  sail-loft,  leaving  the  husband  and  wife  alone 
on  the  piazza.  Kent  drew  his  chair  nearer  Dora's 
and  leaning  toward  her  whispered: 

"I  suppose  you  will  not  let  me  kiss  you  out  here, 
wee  wifie  mine  ?  Well,  then  give  me  your  hand." 
He  took  and  caressed  it,  pressing  it  gently  against 
his  cheek. 

"I  love  you  more  and  more,  dear,  every  day 
more  and  more.  I  wish  to  heaven  I  had  it  in  me 
to  be  worthy  of  you  I"  he  suddenly  added  with  bit- 
terness. To  turn  his  thought  she  said  lightly: 

"I  think  poor  Imogen  makes  a  splendid  back- 
28 


ORDERS   TO   SEA 

ground  for  her  sex  generally.  I've  always  noticed 
you  have  a  burst  of  admiration  for  your  wife  after 
a  visit  from  Jack's." 

Laughing  they  arose  and  went  into  the  house. 

Adele  wore  that  night  her  experiment  in  daring 
coloration  with  such  marked  success  that  she  re- 
ceived two  cordial  invitations  to  remain  in  Amer- 
ica. One  was  extended  by  Ensign  Golden,  the 
leader  of  the  cotillon,  the  other  by  the  assistant 
surgeon  at  the  Yard,  Doctor  Robb — his  second 
attempt  in  the  same  line. 

But  the  doctor  went  home  early,  and  the  cotillon 
was  not  considered  at  all  up  to  Golden's  standard; 
the  whole  Yard  felt  that  his  indifference  and  lassi- 
tude were  insufferable,  if  not  downright  imperti- 
nent, and  the  very  next  hop  found  him  displaced 
by  a  man  of  sustained  enthusiasm,  if  of  far  less 
originality. 

"I'll  admit,  Doctor  Robb,  I  think  you  must  be 
an  acquired  taste,"  Adele  had  vouchsafed  after  his 
avowal  that  night,  between  dances  before  the  Ger- 
man began.  They  sat  in  the  corner  of  a  beflagged, 
besabred  loft,  hidden  by  an  enormous  expansion 
of  Stars  and  Stripes,  whose  folds  billowed  dizzily 
about  them  in  the  current  of  warm  air  blowing 
from  many  open  windows. 

29 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

As  he  was  beyond  asking  any  more  questions 
that  evening,  she  had  to  continue  unsolicited: 

"I  observe  that  I  let  you  go  with  more  and  more 
regret  as  years  advance.  It  honestly  wouldn't 
surprise  me  if — "  she  paused,  but  again  entire  si- 
lence defeated  her  rather  hazy  motives — "if  as 
time  rolls  on  and  The  Other  cometh  not  between 
us  twain,  and  you'd  catch  me  in  exactly  the  right 
mood  and  give  me  the  chance,  that — really  I  mean 
it!" 

"Well,  it's  the  last  call  for  dinner,  Miss  Talty  1" 
he  said  grimly.  She  laughed,  humor  being  in  her 
very  blood,  relishing  a  man  who  was  game  to  the 
end.  She  put  out  her  gloved  hand,  laid  one  finger 
gently  on  his  own  and  coaxed  from  the  pure  habit 
of  coquetry: 

"Och,  dochter  de-ah,  shure  it's  beginnin'  Oi  am 
this  blissed  minute  to  fale  the  hunger!" 

He  sprang  to  his  feet,  white  with  indignation, 
and  standing  before  her  he  said  furiously: 

"All  that  so-called  good  women  of  your  sort 
lack,  who  pass  from  one  safe  flirtation  to  another, 
is  courage — to  come  under  quite  another  caption ! 
The  wish  to  make  you  my  wife  was  the  most 
sacred  thing  in  me;  the  deepest,  strongest,  clean- 
est— it  deserves  at  least  respect.  Good-night  and 

30 


ORDERS  TO   SEA 

good-by,  I  shall  not  see  you  again  before  you 
leave,"  he  bowed,  turned  on  his  heel  and  left  her. 

Tears  rushed  to  her  eyes,  the  hot  color  to  her 
cheeks,  she  shrank  as  if  struck. 

"This  is  our  extra,  Miss  Talty.  I  like  the  way 
you  are  trying  to  sneak  out  of  it  I  It's  a  blow  to 
a  man  whose  two-step  has  a  national  reputation," 
cried  a  voice  close  beside  her;  and  fighting  com- 
ically with,  instead  of  for,  the  enveloping  flag  of 
his  country,  Ensign  Golden  swept  her  away  out 
upon  the  glassy  floor. 

Four  days  later  the  party  of  seven  started  on 
their  long  journey  to  the  other  ends  of  the  earth, 
with  far  less  commotion  than  a  respectable  aver- 
age leave  for  the  sea-shore. 

The  most  amusing  incident  of  the  voyage  was 
the  discovery  that  Mammy  had  in  her  possession 
a  twenty-two  calibre  pistol,  supposing  that  they 
were  going  to  the  land  of  savagery;  instead  of  in 
reality  the  land  of  gentlest  courtesy,  of  quaintest 
ceremony — the  heaven  of  children  and  flowers. 


CHAPTER    II 

DORA'S   SECRET 

"  How  love  might  be,  hath  been  indeed  and  is." 

FELLOWES  and  Talty  had  been  classmates 
at  Annapolis  and  close  friends  ever  since. 
A  friendship  which  had  stood  the  test  of  a  cruise 
together  in  the  woful  cementation  of  the  steerage 
mess,  as  it  was  in  the  old  days.  Fellowes  was, 
in  all  respects  but  one,  Talty's  ideal  of  an  officer, 
rarely  efficient,  almost  fanatic  in  his  devotion  to 
the  service;  and  of  a  gentleman — well-bred,  loyal, 
honorable. 

For  a  healthy  sanguine  nature  like  Talty's  (with 
an  inherent  love  of  detail  and  adapting  itself  easily 
to  every  environment)  the  long  period  of  pre- 
paredness for  war,  which  best  seems  to  insure  peace 
in  these  sapient  days,  carried  with  it  no  dangers. 
But  Fellowes  had  a  temperament  strung  up  for 
action,  for  the  full  testing  of  twenty  years  of 
theory;  a  mind  that  looked  off  over  wide  spaces, 
beyond  the  minutiae  of  foreground  that  make  for 

32 


DORA'S  SECRET 

sanity.  He  felt  even  under  the  padding  of  his 
daily  paper  the  ribs  of  history,  to  be  studied  later 
by  his  children's  children.  Perhaps  a  blooded 
horse  gathered  for  tremendous  effort  and  then  sud- 
denly checked,  best  offers  a  parallel  of  outraged 
spirit  and  maddened  nerves. 

In  one  of  these  reactions  on  his  first  cruise  as 
an  ensign  in  the  days  of  the  "Hump  in  the  Line," 
a  pre-natal  weakness,  lying  till  then  sleeping  with- 
in him,  awoke;  and  a  fight,  which  left  life-long 
scars,  was  on  his  hands;  a  conflict  barren  of  glory; 
his  own  soul  the  battle-field,  ploughed  up  and 
riven  by  bitter  strife. 

It  was  "a  fine  old  gentlemanly  vice"  transmitted 
by  his  maternal  grandfather,  the  only  legacy  he 
left.  He  had  been  himself  in  the  United  States 
Navy  during  the  Mexican  War,  and  had  died  sud- 
denly three  months  after  the  declaration  of  peace. 

It  was  always  peace,  not  war,  that  wrought  dis- 
aster with  the  Fellowes  men. 

For  a  hundred  years,  here  and  there  in  a  genera- 
tion, there  had  ever  been  a  man  carrying  the  poison 
of  drink  in  his  blood.  Kent's  father  was  entirely- 
free  from  it — the  boy  was  placed  under  the  rigid 
discipline  of  the  Naval  Academy  at  fifteen,  never 
again  returning  to  his  home  in  St.  Louis  except 

33 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

as  a  hurried  guest.  Thus  he  was  left  in  ignorance 
of  family  traditions,  and  off  his  guard,  until  too 
late. 

Kent  met  Dora  Talty  on  his  graduation  leave, 
one  week  of  which  he  spent  with  Jack  in  his  home 
in  Richmond.  And  now  and  then  he  was  again 
thrown  with  her  during  a  cruise  on  the  Home  Sta- 
tion, at  Old  Point,  Charleston,  and  New  Orleans 
during  the  Mardi  Gras. 

Toward  the  end  of  that  cruise  the  two  class- 
mates were  on  deck  one  night,  tramping  out  to- 
gether the  mid-watch. 

The  ship,  under  orders  for  the  winter  cruise, 
was  off  Staten  Island  to  take  on  powder.  Life 
seemed  very  simple,  very  plastic,  during  those 
silent  peaceful  hours  while  the  great  world  slept 
under  the  stars,  and  the  ship  rode  at  anchor,  at 
war  only  with  the  tide. 

After  a  long  silence,  Kent  said  bluntly: 

"Jack,  knowing  me  as  only  you  do,  answer  me 
square.  Do  you  think  I  have  a  right  to  marry?" 

And  Talty  with  that  half-comprehension  of  the 
relentlessness  of  nature's  laws,  with  which  we 
stumble  through  our  youth,  said  impulsively: 

"The  one  thing  that  will  pull  you  up,  old 
chap  I" 

34 


DORA'S  SECRET 

And  Dora  worked  off  the  penalty  for  that  short 
sentence.  Kent  wrote  to  her  the  next  day,  and  all 
the  rest  followed,  when  the  cruise  was  over. 

Two  years  before,  Jack  also  had  married, 
greatly  to  his  own  surprise.  It  was  the  result  of 
an  indiscreet  pity  for  a  hysterical,  anaemic  girl 
who  clung  convulsively  to  anything  stable  that 
floated  by  her  in  the  tossing  rapids  of  her  emo- 
tional life.  Although  it  be  not  in  accord  with  the 
traditions,  the  truth  is  that  the  most  vulnerable 
man  in  existence,  to  feminine  charms — real  or 
fancied — the  least  cool  in  judgment,  is  a  Naval 
officer  fresh  from  a  cruise. 

About  a  year  after  Dora's  marriage,  Kent,  then 
on  shore  duty  at  the  Washington  Navy  Yard,  was 
ordered  to  New  York  on  court-martial  duty,  his 
first  separation  from  his  wife  even  for  a  day. 
When  Talty,  who  was  in  the  office  of  Naval  In- 
telligence in  Washington,  heard  that  Willoughby 
T.  Hanks  was  on  the  same  court,  he  experienced 
his  first  twinge  of  anxiety  about  his  brother-in-law 
since  the  marriage.  Lieutenant  Hanks'  superb 
health,  of  mind  and  body,  was  a  living  refutation 
of  all  croakings,  religious  or  hygienic.  He  left 
whatever  physical  debts  might  accrue  to  be  paid 
by  unborn  descendants,  for  whom  he  could  scarcely 

35 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

be  expected  to  feel  any  great  tenderness.  He  was 
a  magnificent  pagan,  bent  upon  the  making  of 
proselytes — very  dangerous  company  for  Kent 
Fellowes. 

Talty  read  in  the  evening  paper  before  leaving 
the  Department,  that  the  court  had  adjourned  in 
New  York  on  the  previous  day,  and  he  gave  his 
wife  one  of  those  connubial  slips  made  facile  by 
certain  classic  shibboleths,  and  went  on  his  wheel 
down  to  the  Navy  Yard. 

Up  to  that  time  Dora  never  even  dreamed  of 
the  volcano  upon  whose  sunny  slopes  she  had 
planted  her  heart's  vineyard — with  a  laugh,  and 
a  prayer,  and  the  sense  of  peace  that  walks  with 
a  great  love. 

The  instant  Jack  saw  his  sister  that  afternoon, 
his  heart  stood  still  with  convicted  dread. 

She  had  seen  him  coming  and  stood  in  her  open 
doorway. 

"O  Jack,  I'm  so  glad  you  came!  I'm  worried 
to  death  about  Kent.  He  got  back  late  last  night 
in  a  high  fever.  He's  sleeping  so  heavily,  all 
flushed  and  burning.  Do  please  go  right  up  and 
see  him." 

The  evident  gravity  with  which  Talty  entered 
and  put  down  his  hat,  soothed  at  once  the  excited 

36 


DORA'S   SECRET 

wife.  As  he  stooped  to  unfasten  the  bicycle-clips 
from  his  trousers  he  asked : 

"You  didn't  think  it  necessary  to  send  for  a 
doctor?" 

"Why,  yes — "  Jack  held  his  breath,  but  ex- 
haled it  in  resonant  relief  as  she  added: 

"But  Dell  made  such  fun  of  me,  I  waited.  I 
should  have  sent  for  Doctor  Robb  last  night  after 
I  had  helped  Kent  upstairs — think  of  it,  Jack,  I 
had  to  help  him,  he  was  so  dazed  with  the  fever! 
But  Dell  came  out  of  her  room,  and  said  all  the 
poor  fellow  needed  was  sleep,  and  for  gracious  sake 
to  let  him  have  it  in  peace !  He  is  better  to-day, 
undoubtedly,  but  sleeps  so  soundly.  So  I  sent  Dell 
to  the  doctor's  office,  but  she  came  back  saying 
Doctor  Robb  had  gone  to  the  city,  and  she  has 
no  confidence  whatever  in  the  'big'  doctor.  And 

0  Jack,  I  forgot!     The  captain  of  the  Yard  sent 
for  Kent  this  morning.    Dell  spoke  to  the  messen- 
ger— she  said  I'd  exaggerate  Kent's  illness,  and 
have  a  medical  survey  sitting  on  him,  first  thing 

1  knew.     A  lot  of  papers  are  here  for  Kent  to 
sign,  and  I  hated  to  rouse  him.    You'll  see  to  it 
all,  and  straighten  things  out  for  us?" 

"I'll  see  to  it  all,  dear,"  repeated  he  gravely. 
Then  and  there  it  began  to  be  borne  in  upon  him 

37 


PEACE   AND   THE   VICES 

that  he  had  assumed  a  great  moral  responsibility 
that  dwarfed  even  his  own  witless  marriage. 

He  began  to  pace  slowly,  up  and  down  the  hall, 
with  head  bent,  until  Dora  cried  amazed: 

"Why,  aren't  you  going  up  to  see  what's  the 
matter  with  poor  Kent?" 

"Oh,  yes!"  he  said,  recalling  himself  to  the 
burden  of  the  moment.  "Don't  come  up,  stay 
here." 

"Why?"  she  demanded,  in  wonder. 

"Well,  you  see  I'm  much  more  likely  to  get  at 
the  truth  if  I  see  him  alone.  To  me  he  will  not 
pretend  to  be  any  more  chipper  than  he  really  is. 
I'll  not  be  long." 

He  went  slowly  up  the  stairway,  opened  a  door 
and  entered,  closing  and  locking  it  after  him. 

The  sound  of  heavy  stertorous  breathing  came 
from  the  bed  in  the  darkened  room,  and  now  and 
then  a  long  sigh  that  was  almost  a  groan. 

Raising  one  of  the  window-shades  Jack  ap- 
proached the  bed. 

With  one  bare  glance  down  at  the  flushed  dis- 
figured face,  he  turned  abruptly  away. 

"God  in  heaven,  it  has  come  1"  he  muttered  in 
a  whisper. 

He  went  to  the  window,  staring  out  with  the 
38 


DORA'S    SECRET 

blank  eyes  of  introspection,  and  during  the  ensu- 
ing ten  minutes  he  fitted  a  new  burden  to  his  shoul- 
ders— the  real  Kent,  proud,  sensitive,  unselfish,  fas- 
tidious almost  to  a  fault,  loving  his  young  wife 
profoundly;  the  Kent  lying  there  in  a  drunken 
stupor. 

And  innocent,  flower-like,  gentle  little  Dora! 
Purblind  fool  that  he  had  been  to  sacrifice  his  sister 
to  his  friend,  in  one  of  those  obsessions  of  sympathy 
that  seemed  doomed  to  wreck  his  own  life  and  the 
lives  of  those  he  loved. 

The  only  expiation  possible  was  to  stand  be- 
tween Dora  and  the  vice  itself;  and  between  his 
friend  and  the  consequences,  as  far  as  lay  in  his 
power,  from  that  hour  on  to  the  end. 

The  almost  insurmountable  difficulties  of  this 
were  not  lost  upon  his  quickened  imagination ;  the 
close  contact  with  men  whose  official  duty  it  is  to 
demand  of  one  another  the  highest  possible  stand- 
ard of  conduct;  the  publicity  of  life  in  the  Navy 
afloat  or  ashore.  By  his  marriage  he  had  become 
part  of  the  great  staid  social  system,  thereby 
doubling  the  chances  of  discovery.  The  end 
seemed  inevitable  save  by  a  miracle. 

Talty  once  more  approached  the  bed  and  made 
a  fruitless  attempt  to  rouse  Fellowes,  but  the  poison 

39 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

in  him  had  the  exaggerated  effect  upon  him  that 
it  often  has  in  the  case  of  a  transmitted  vice. 

Talty  opened  both  windows,  drew  in  the  shut- 
ters, covered  the  prostrate  figure  with  an  addi- 
tional blanket,  and  with  one  agonized  glance  at 
his  unconscious  friend,  he  left  the  room. 

After  listening  over  the  balusters  for  an  instant, 
he  tip-toed  to  Adele's  room  at  the  other  end  of  the 
upper  hall.  He  tapped  softly,  whispering,  as  he 
heard  the  handle  turn: 

"Dell,  it's  Jack !    Open  the  door  quickly." 

She  did  so,  and  they  stood  face  to  face,  each 
pair  of  eyes  on  guard,  fencing  with  the  truth. 
There  had  always  been  something  clairvoyant  in 
the  action  between  their  minds,  there  never  was 
the  least  use  to  try  concealment. 

A  man  seldom  appears  to  less  advantage  than 
when  fighting  for  self-justification  with  a  good 
woman,  roused,  and  rolling  down  bowlders  of  in- 
fallibility from  the  higher  levels  where  such  wom- 
en live  out  their  sheltered  lives.  Until  parley  can 
be  had  more  on  his  level,  there  is  little  to  do  but 
wait,  under  cover. 

She  beckoned  him  in  and  closed  the  door. 

"How  long  have  you  known  this,  Jack?"  were 
her  first  words. 

40 


DORA'S  SECRET 

"From  the  first,  but,  Dell,  listen " 

"Before  Dora's  marriage?" 

"Before  their  marriage." 

"Oh,  I  see !  a  sister  crucified  to  save  a  classmate. 
You're  a  good  friend,  Jack,  at  least.  But  how 
could  you,  how  could  you  ?"  the  girl  walked  about 
excitedly  striking  one  closed  fist  into  her  open 
palm. 

"I  thought— I  hoped " 

"Of  course  you  did !  All  blunders  are  built  on 
those  two  corner-stones.  What  amazes  me  is  that 
your  mind  could  twist  itself  into  believing  it  possi- 
ble; the  fact  that  your  ethics  could  foist  the  ex- 
periment upon  your  sister  is  secondary,  bad  as  it 
is.  To  use  a  woman's  life  as  a  moral  lever  to 
turn  a  man  from  a  sinner  to  a  saint !  Would  you 
recommend  the  reversed  role  to  any  man  of  your 
long  list  of  friends?  It's  one  of  the  'female  parts' 
in  the  comedy,  it  seems!" 

"When  you  are  through,  Dell — and  you're  dead 
right  about  the  whole  thing — I  have  something  to 
say." 

The  rare  sight  of  her  brother's  grave  white  face 
silenced  her  as  no  argument  could  have  done ;  and 
presently  he  added : 

"We  Taltys  have  got  to  pull  together  now,  not 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

against  one  another.  Officially  it  shall  be  my  task, 
socially  yours.  Go  on,  Dell,  as  you've  so  ably 
begun.  Of  course  I  see  your  cognizant  touch  in 
all  that  about  the  doctors — everything,  since  last 
night." 

"I  think,  Jack,  she  had  much  better  be  told  at 
once.  The  danger  is  trebled  by  her  very  igno- 
rance." 

"To  him,  yes;  but  to  her,  Dell — think  a  mo- 
ment!" 

"You're  right,  for  a  little  while  longer  we  must 
keep  it  from  her  until " 

"I  will  see  him  through  this,  she  need  not  know. 
But  the  marvel  of  her  not  knowing,  Dell  1  I  can- 
not understand  it,  you  knew !" 

"Dora's  nature  has  an  affinity  only  for  light, 
truth,  order,  beauty,  harmony.  I  have  sometimes 
thought  the  very  force  of  her  idealizing  thought 
created  these  along  her  path,  and  killed  all  else. 
For  instance,  Mammy  never  used  to  let  Dora  see 
the — what  shall  I  call  it? — the  sinuosities  of  her 
nature.  She  always  used  to  say " 

"Dell!  I've  got  it.  Send  for  Mammy  Lina! 
I'll  share  her  wages  with  you,  and  I'll  write  and 
wheedle  Cousin  Cartright  into  giving  her  up  for 
awhile  anyhow.  It  was  understood  she  was  to 

42 


DORA'S  SECRET 

come  if  any  of  us  wanted  her.  She's  the  smoothest 
thing  in  liars  alive !  There's  a  heap  of  it  ahead  of 
us.  Her  talent  may  as  well  be  utilized,  even  if 
not  really  encouraged.  Ah,  it's  not  simple — life 
— it's  not  simple." 

There  was  a  short  silence  between  them,  and 
he  continued  his  quarter-deck  turn  up  and  down 
the  room;  then  suddenly  he  stopped  before  her 
and  poured  out  the  whole  story  of  his  intense  love 
for  his  friend;  his  honest  belief  that  the  marriage 
would  redeem  him ;  the  great  shock  of  the  failure 
they  were  now  facing;  ending,  as  he  turned  ab- 
ruptly away  from  her,  in  almost  incoherent  self- 
denunciation.  All  Adele's  womanliness  was  at 
once  enlisted  on  her  brother's  side,  and  her  tact — 
almost  flawless  when  she  chose  to  use  it — soon 
quieted  him  and  made  it  possible  for  him  to  de- 
scend with  her  and  rejoin  the  impatient  wife. 

"What  does  Kent  say?"  she  cried  at  once. 

"You've  never  been  a  judge  advocate  on  a  ten 
days'  court,  Dora,  or  you  wouldn't  have  to  ask 
that  question.  A  fellow's  either  lucky  or  lazy  if 
he  gets  any  sleep  under  the  P.M.  invoice.  He's 
all  right;  dead  tired,  and  seems  to  have  taken  cold, 
wants  sleep;  be  all  right  to-morrow.  Lord  love 
us !  even  that  other  perfect  man,  Romeo,  had  dys- 
pepsia and  megrims " 

43 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

" and  insomnia,"  suggested  Dell,  mechan- 
ically returning  his  lead;  and  their  cross-ruff  soon 
had  pliable,  happy-natured  Dora  in  a  gale  of  pro- 
testing laughter,  as  they  belittled  and  held  up  to 
ridicule  her  wifely  alarms. 

"No  wonder  Kent  calls  you  two  'Bones  and 
Tambourine'  1"  she  finally  managed  to  say,  wiping 
her  pretty  brown  eyes. 

"Meaning  her  as  the  latter!"  clamored  Jack, 
patting  a  portly  frontage,  and  strutting  offensively 
to  countervail  a  face  still  white  with  anguish  and 
eyes  that  wept  inwardly. 

Adele  went  uptown  to  spend  the  night  with 
Mrs.  Talty,  the  only  way  to  insure  her  sister-in- 
law's  absence,  and  gain  her  husband's  presence  at 
the  Yard  over  night. 

The  birth  of  his  little  daughter,  Julie,  three 
months  after  the  disastrous  home-coming  from  the 
court-martial,  kept  Fellowes'  path  free  from  even 
temptation  for  almost  a  year.  Then  came  a  day 
when  the  child's  life  hung  by  a  thread. 

All  had  been  done  that  could  be,  and  there  was 
nothing  for  it  but  to  wait,  and  try  and  read  the 
doctor's  face  stooping  over  the  gasping  child. 
The  tension,  his  utter  uselessness,  days  of  hasty 
and  irregular  meals,  drove  the  half-frantic  father 

44 


DORA'S  SECRET 

downstairs,  where  he  drank  two  glasses  of  port, 
toward  dawn. 

To  touch  one  drop  was  fatal  to  him,  and  it  was 
ten  days  before  he  was  again  entirely  himself;  al- 
though going  and  coming  on  his  daily  round,  and 
sluggishly  thankful  that  his  child  was  living. 

It  was  during  one  of  those  days  that  Dora  sud- 
denly came  to,  at  least,  a  partial  comprehension  of 
the  truth;  deeming  it  a  single  indiscretion  induced 
by  excitement. 

What  day  or  hour  it  reached  her  consciousness, 
Adele  never  knew,  the  wife's  subterfuge  was  so 
instinct  with  it. 

But  her  dry  alert  eyes,  the  lines  on  the  smooth 
girlish  brow,  stencilling  themselves  deeper  and 
deeper  as  the  weeks  went  on,  the  pitiful  attempts 
at  a  no  longer  genuine  gayety,  drove  Adele  to  a  de- 
cision, indorsed  by  her  brother.  She  went  south 
on  a  series  of  visits  among  her  many  relations  in 
the  old  city  of  her  birth. 

The  family  residence  of  her  parents,  neither  of 
whom  was  living,  was  then  in  the  hands  of  a 
collateral  branch  of  her  father's  family;  there  only 
she  did  not  go,  even  turning  away  her  head  when- 
ever they  drove  by,  and  they  all  understood  and 
sympathized. 

45 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

When  she  deemed  that  her  absence  had  relieved 
her  sister  of  the  first  great  strain  of  readjustment 
to  a  new  and  grievous  condition,  she  returned 
north,  and  with  her  an  old  negress,  whose  grand- 
father had  been  sold  to  the  ante-bellum  Taltys 
straight  from  the  slave-ship  which  had  brought 
him  over  from  Africa.  Mammy  Lina  was  of  pure 
negro  blood,  with  full  brownish  lips,  a  flattened 
nose,  and  hair  like  dyed  sea-moss.  A  fine  strong 
black  cruel  face,  softened  by  inexpressibly  sad 
loving  eyes ;  and  a  voice  that  held  in  solution  every 
human  emotion,  good  or  bad.  An  exquisite  voice 
that  coaxed  or  commanded,  sympathized  or  re- 
pelled, loved  unto  death,  hated  in  like  measure, 
rippled  in  delicious  laughter  or  became  merely  sibi- 
lant in  wordless  rage.  To  have  seen  and  heard 
her  formless  crooning  over  the  Talty  babies  as  they 
had  come  one  by  one  into  her  childless  life,  was 
to  have  a  sudden  vision  of  a  cleared  space  in  a 
jungle,  where  all  young  life  survived  only  at  the 
price  of  a  ceaseless  vigilance.  She  had  been  named 
Carolina,  but  insisted  on  the  prefix  S.  lest  she 
should  be  taken  for  the  worthless  flotsam  of  a  state 
further  north,  and  deemed  less  aristocratic. 

In  the  meanwhile,  after  a  second  lapse  on  Fel- 
lowes'  part,  Jack  saw  that  he  must  break  down 

46 


DORA'S   SECRET 

the  pitiful  wall  of  deception  Dora  had  jealously 
built  between  her  secret  and  the  whole  prying 
world.  She  was  not  in  the  least  one  of  those  unre- 
corded heroines  who  fight,  with  a  smile  ready  al- 
ways on  their  lips,  deceiving  successfully  as  long 
as  life  is  in  them;  only  in  the  facial  helplessness  of 
death,  laying  bare  the  ravages  of  their  agony.  So 
when  her  brother  told  Dora  that  he  had  long  been 
aware  of  her  husband's  weakness,  she  instantly 
clung  to  him  infinitely  relieved.  He  let  pass  with- 
out comment  her  piteous  appeal  that  Adele  should 
never  know.  Of  course  each  time  should  be  the 
last — Kent  was  as  sure  as  she  of  that — to  the  end. 

From  the  depression  that  inevitably  followed 
upon  each  attack  of  Kent's  drinking  mania,  it  re- 
quired all  Dora's  loving  sympathy  to  drag  him 
out  sane. 

Nothing  but  the  genius  of  pure  love  gave  her 
the  penetration  to  attach  him  little  by  little  once 
more  to  life;  to  reinstate  some  semblance  of  his 
shattered  self-respect. 

When  the  madness  was  passed,  and  he  lay  white 
and  speechless  in  a  hell  of  self-loathing,  she  sat 
beside  him,  letting  him  cling  in  almost  a  frenzy  of 
humility  to  one  of  her  hands;  or  gently  forcing 
upon  him  much  needed  nutrition,  a  spoonful  at  a 

47 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

time,  in  heart-breaking  pretence  of  being  happy 
to  have  him  ill  and  helplessly  dependent  upon  her. 
In  fact  a  great  exhilaration  always  came  to  her 
during  the  first  days  after  they  had  together  won 
the  battle,  and  the  craving  began  to  abate  in  nausea 
and  repulsion.  Strangely  enough  (to  the  happy 
lives  that  have  been  spared  contact  with  a  great 
vice)  those  hours  of  sad  victory  knitted  their  two 
souls  together  in  a  bond  infinitely  profound,  un- 
translatably  exalted. 

In  these  days  of  insistent  pitiless  individualism, 
it  is  difficult  to  win  for  such  as  Dora  aught  but 
contempt.  Be  that  as  it  may,  a  few  such  women 
there  ever  have  been,  to  whom  "until  death  us  do 
part"  means  more  than  until  disillusion  us  do 
part,  the  new  woman  claiming  an  almost  comical 
sex  monopoly  of  a  fairly  common  emotion. 

When  Kent's  mental  restlessness  began  (always 
before  the  physical)  Dora  read  to  him  almost  in- 
cessantly during  his  waking  hours.  As  time  went 
on,  she  discovered  that  he  was  best  diverted  by 
arctic  adventures,  or  explorations  into  unknown 
lands,  and  eventually  they  had  a  very  complete 
library  of  these  tales,  over  which  she  drew  a  heavy 
curtain  when  all  need  of  them  was  for  the  time 
being  over.  Then  came  his  great  bodily  unrest, 

48 


DORA'S   SECRET 

during  which  she  walked  with  him  almost  hourly, 
coming  home  only  for  meals,  keeping  her  hat  on 
all  day;  often  falling  asleep  from  sheer  exhaustion 
as  soon  as  she  sat  down.  He  was  by  no  means  a 
brute,  but  he  found  that  to  let  her  have  her  way 
with  him  was  to  minimize  the  strain  upon  her. 

When  he  could  speak  at  all  it  was  to  say: 

"Don't  read  any  more,  dear,  your  voice  is  tired," 
or  "My  little  wife,  I  cannot  let  you  walk  again 
with  me  this  afternoon.  Look  at  me,  Dora,  I 
promise  you  I  will  not  go  outside  the  Yard,  if  you 
will  rest." 

But  there  were  club-rooms  and  thoughtless  men 
to  beat  down  convalescent  resolve,  and  so  she 
laughed  and  protested:  "Won't  you  please  let  me 
get  two  breaths  of  fresh  air  without  such  a  fuss! 
If  I'm  sleepy  it's  because  I'm  so  vulgarly  strong 
and  healthy.  And  Kent — I'm  only  happy  when 
I'm  with  you,  truly  dear." 

Then  he  would  go  to  her,  place  his  trembling 
hands  on  her  shoulders,  stoop  and  kiss  her  brow 
reverently  and  say  in  a  broken  voice : 

"God  bless  you,  my  darling;  come  then  with 
me,  for  you  are  my  lamp  in  all  this  darkness,  and 
I  need  you  so." 

His  periodic  disappearances  from  his  duties 
49 


PEACE   AND    THE   VICES 

were  covered  by  a  rumor  of  malaria,  started  and 
kept  rolling  by  Passed  Assistant  Surgeon  Robb, 
loquaciously  abetted  by  Talty,  although  no  word 
had  ever  passed  between  the  two  men  upon  the 
subject. 

The  orders  to  sea  at  the  end  of  three  years' 
shore  duty  opened  a  new  vista  of  unfamiliar  terrors 
to  the  young  wife;  but  Jack  was  to  be  with  him, 
and  she  herself  not  far  away,  and  all  would  be 
well. 

If  other  human  faculties  had  but  half  the  vital- 
ity of  hope,  threescore  years  would  be  but  ado- 
lescence. 


CHAPTER   III 

LIFE   UNDER  THE   "LONE   PINE" 

"  You  like  better  to  pleaie  than  to  be  loved." 

THE  two  officers  joined  the  "Boston"  at 
Hong  Kong,  leaving  their  families  en 
route  at  Nagasaki,  as  a  compromise  point  between 
China  and  Japan. 

It  was  a  mere  euphemism  for  Talty  to  say  he, 
of  his  own  volition,  had  aught  to  do  with  Imogen's 
movements.  She  elected  to  remain  temporarily 
with  her  sisters-in-law  because  the  fitting  up  of 
their  little  home  would  include  one  of  her  sources 
of  intense  excitement — shopping.  And  then  per- 
haps there  was  hidden  in  the  woman  a  mother's 
instinct,  denied  its  rightful  outlet,  which  might 
have  made  melody  out  of  the  harsh  jangle  of  her 
nature. 

After  a  week  at  the  hotel,  through  Imogen's 
acquaintance  with  the  wife  of  an  American  resi- 
dent, they  were  able  to  take  possession  of  a  bunga- 
low up  on  the  abrupt  hill-side,  back  from  the  Bund. 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

"Ippon  Matsu,"  surrounded  by  its  beautiful  but 
painfully  becoddled  garden,  is  one  of  the  show- 
places  in  the  town ;  in  that  it  is  built  around  a  huge 
living  pine-tree,  whose  trunk,  as  in  Hunding's  hut, 
is  a  salient  part  of  the  large  entrance-hall,  fitted 
out  as  a  conservatory. 

Under  the  same  local  guidance  they  came  into 
possession  of  a  Japanese  cook,  noted  principally 
for  that  purely  American  dish — strawberry  short- 
cake (although  admittedly  weak  in  soups).  This 
talent — at  best  of  ephemeral  value — was  always 
brought  conspicuously  forward  by  him  when  seek- 
ing American  patronage,  as  was  an  equal  one  for 
tarts  or  scones,  if  sought  by  English  or  Scotch 
housewives.  He  was  known  only  as  uCook-san." 
Then  Miss  Springtime — O  Haru  san — became 
Julie's  extremely  pretty  little  amah;  and  finally 
Yamaguchi,  who  was  gardener,  momban,  messen- 
ger, gomiman  all  in  one,  and  received  six  dollars 
a  month  for  his  Protean  office. 

Mammy  reigned  contemptuously  over  them  all. 
The  first  day  they  moved  in  from  the  hotel,  the 
two  sisters,  with  the  insouciance  of  southern  folk, 
played  cribbage  in  the  summer-house,  which  over- 
looks the  harbor,  while  Imogen,  breathless  and  im- 
portant beyond  all  former  conceptions  of  that 

52 


LIFE  UNDER  THE  "LONE   PINE" 

word,  created  chaos  within  the  house,  where  other- 
wise peace  and  order  would  soon  have  ruled  under 
the  quieter  manipulations  of  the  Japanese. 

Cook-san  had  appeared  betimes,  carrying  over 
his  shoulder  a  branch  of  flame-colored  azalea,  fol- 
lowed by  a  cringing  coolie  who  bore  a  strangely 
small  bundle  of  primitive  kitchen-utensils,  and  also 
the  provisions  for  the  day,  soon  to  be  serenely 
served,  the  azalea  for  table-decoration.  Julie 
meanwhile  paddled  about  pendant  from  a  blue  rag 
in  the  hands  of  her  docile  amah.  Imogen  stormed 
about,  Mammy  worked  in  scornful  silence,  Cook- 
san  performed  miracles  of  gustatorial  economy 
out  of  nothing,  and  was  soon  able  to  smoke  many 
pipes  in  peace  on  the  door-step,  his  domain  in  per- 
fect order.  Yamaguchi  and  two  coolies  were  as 
leaves  blown  about  in  many  winds.  The  sisters 
laughed  and  trusted  Mammy. 

In  twenty-four  hours  such  order  came  out  of  the 
ferment  that  Mrs.  Fellowes  could  have  given  a 
dinner  to  exactly  six  people,  if  Julie  had  consented 
to  go  to  sleep,  thus  releasing  amah  for  the  neces- 
sary rapid  and  frequent  washing  of  their  meagre 
table-equipment. 

Even  a  make-shift  five-o'clock-tea  table  and  a 
nest  of  Chinese  poys,  stood  ready  in  a  corner  of 

53 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

the  drawing-room  for  the  visitors  Imogen  vowed 
were  "positively  champing"  to  call  upon  them. 

Adele  had  declared  for  blue,  after  her  first  tour 
about  the  native  town,  and  blue  chijimi  draped  the 
windows,  blue  Osaka  rugs  covered  the  oiled  floors, 
blue  Seto  ware  clattered  in  the  dining-room.  The 
effect,  if  monotonous,  was  not  wholly  inartistic  if 
the  small  expenditure  be  taken  as  a  basis  of 
reckoning. 

Both  Fellowes  and  Talty  were  men  firmly  op- 
posed to  their  wives  "following  the  ship,"  as  the 
saying  is ;  but  the  chasm  between  theory  and  prac- 
tice yawned  with  especial  width  in  both  their  cases. 
Kent  clung  almost  superstitiously  to  a  belief  in  the 
great  moral  effect  upon  him  of  his  wife's  nearness, 
only  too  willing  to  yield  to  Jack's  solicitations ;  and 
the  latter  had  no  longer  even  a  rag  of  dogma  to 
swear  by,  as  far  as  Imogen  was  concerned,  and 
fenced  listlessly  for  peace  only,  as  good  men  stulti- 
fied by  mis-marriage  are  prone  to  do. 

Dora  and  Adele  were  better  able  to  consider 
Imogen  in  a  humorous  light,  in  face  of  her  avowed 
resolve  to  join  her  husband,  as  soon  as  he  could  tell 
her  the  probable  movements  of  the  ship.  It  would 
seem  from  this  that  her  absence  was  assured  him, 
but  he  had  long  ago  discovered  the  fallacy  of  any 

54 


LIFE  UNDER  THE  "LONE  PINE" 

such  view;  for  after  a  few  weeks  of  carefully  fos- 
tered uncertainty,  she  went  anyhow. 

"It  seems  a  long  way  to  come,  just  to  sit  and 
wait  once  more  for  the  postman,"  sighed  Mrs.  Fel- 
lowes,  standing  on  the  veranda  with  eyes  on  the  bay 
far  below,  where  the  ships  came  and  went. 

"Wait  till  our  first  letters  come  from  the  ship, 
and  you'll  see  the  difference,"  replied  Imogen; 
"our  news  will  be  six  days  old  instead  of  almost 
six  weeks ;  and  it's  a  real  bargain  to  cable ! 
Twenty  cents  instead  of  one-fifty  a  word,  think  of 
that!  Then,  as  I  tell  Jack,  I  haven't  a  good 
enough  memory  to  be  left  at  home  for  three  years, 
all  my  wifely  constancy  dependent  on  a  poor  photo- 
graph of  a  man  whose  very  voice  I  forget  in  two 
months.  No,  there  isn't  an  inch  of  Penelope  about 
me,  thank  you !  What  was  the  name  of  that  siren 
that  set  her — her  fins — for  Mr.  Penelope?  Now 
what  was  her  name?  Calliope?  What  say, 
Dell?" 

"I  only  said  it  was  almost  right,  and  I  do  wish 
Yamaguchi  would  stop  his  everlasting  manicuring 
of  this  garden;  he's  just  dusted  the  hedge  from 
end  to  end,  and  I'm  all  worn  out !"  groaned  Adele 
from  the  top  step. 

"It  commences  with  a  C,  anyhow.  Well,  what 
55 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

I  was  going  to  say,  when  I  was  interrupted,  was 
that  I  want  to  be  right  on  hand  and  do  my  own 
guessing  about  John  Talty's  lady  friends!  Your 
brother  is  the  most  childlike,  helpless,  unobservant 
man  I  ever  knew  1" 

"It's  a  wise  husband  who  lets  his  wife  think 
that,"  murmured  Adele,  whose  eyes  still  sucked 
gloom  from  Yamaguchi's  puerile  efforts  to  be 
noticed. 

"Now,  what  do  you  mean  by  that?  Dora,  what 
does  Dell  mean  by  that?"  cried  Imogen  hysterical 
at  once;  and  only  by  a  prompt  belittling  of  Dell's 
intellect  could  she  be  quieted. 

Just  as  the  disappointed  gardener  had  in  despair 
resorted  to  a  fit  of  plainly  fictitious  coughing, 
Mammy  appeared  and  reminded  them  of  their 
morning's  task,  and  the  three  young  women  went 
to  work  on  the  bedroom  curtains,  spread  upon  the 
dining-table. 

No  unattached  being  has  ever  made  that  voyage 
across  the  Pacific  without  a  flirtation  of  greater  or 
less  import,  least  of  all  Adele  Talty,  to  whom  it 
was  the  breath  of  her  nostrils. 

"It's  the  greatest  tonic  in  the  world,  my  dear," 
she  wickedly  persisted  to  a  disgusted  Imogen,  "and 
a  positive  cure  for  all  purely  nervous  troubles.  I 

56 


LIFE  UNDER  THE   "LONE    PINE" 

like  it  because  one  always  likes  to  do  what  one  does 
well.  In  the  first  place  I  admit  I  hold  good  cards. 
Eyes  that  answer  to  the  strings '  I  pull,  even  to 
shedding  very  successful,  if  not  saline,  tears; 
a  large,  soft,  dimpled  hand,  the  hand  men  like; 
and  a  voice — but  you've  all  felt  the  charm  of  that. 
Did  you  speak,  Imogen?  Oh,  pardon  me,  I 
thought  you  said  (and  you  are  right)  the  world  is 
only  just  beginning  to  see  once  again  aught  but 
dishonor  in  the  warm  shade  of  my  abundant  hair, 
so  bepraised  in  cinquecento  days.  And  then " 

"Oh,  for  mercy  sakes,  Dell !  That  may  amuse 
you,  but  it  doesn't  either  your  sister  or  me,"  where- 
upon Dora  swallowed  her  tributary  giggles. 

"Dat  gent'mun  wot  was  on  de  steamer  wid  us 
toe  see  yer,  Miss  Dell,"  confided  Mammy  famil- 
iarly from  the  door-way. 

"It  is  he !  Down,  flutterer,  down,  I  say !"  hissed 
Dell,  thumping  her  chest  resoundingly.  "Girls, 
how  do  I  look?  Will  I  do?  Mammy,  come  here 
quick,  pick  me!  pick  me!"  The  girl  whirled  her 
skirts  wildly  about,  trying  to  get  rid  of  adherent 
scraps  and  threads.  "Mammy,  did  you  hear  what 
I  said  to  you?  Come  here  right  away  and  pick 
my  dress  clean!" 

"I  done  hyar  yer  all  right  miff,  Miss  Dell — I 
57 


PEACE   AND    THE   VICES 

reckon  de  onliest  thing  I  didn'  lose  on  dat  yer  ole 
steamer  was  meh  yars — but,  honey  chile,  all  de 
hens  I'se  ever  picked  has  been  daid !  I  ain'  never 
pulled  de  feathers  off'n  one  on  de  wing.  I  reckon 
I'd  bes'  wait  till  yer  light,  miss  I" 

The  laugh  was  on  Dell,  and  Mammy  kept  up  her 
low  chuckle  as  she  relieved  her  now  motionless 
young  mistress  of  her  superfluous  plumage ;  whom 
she  then  followed  out  of  the  room.  As  the  girl 
started  toward  the  drawing-room  Mammy's  hand 
stopped  her,  and  the  whispered  words: 

"Miss  Dell,  yer  shorely  ain'  goin'  right  slam  in 
widout'n  one  weentsy-teentsy  dash  ob  rice  powder 
on  de  nose  ?  De  haidless  ways  ob  young  ladies  now- 
'days !  It  sutney  do  shine,  miss,  like  Aunt  Bene's 
Friday  night  silver.  Yas,  um,  it  do !" 

"Mammy  Lina,  you're  a  downright  corrupt  ole 
thing!  You  ought  to  be  ashamed  of  yourself 
teaching  me  tricks,  your  youngest  baby,  and  the 
flower  of  the  family." 

"Land  sakes!  ain'  no  tricks  nobody  kin  teach 
you,  missy!  An'  dat's  de  blessed  Lord's  own 
troof!"  The  black  woman's  great  pride  in  the 
perfidy  of  her  adored  mistress  glowed  in  her  eyes 
as  she  watched  the  girl  dancing  down  the  hall 
toward  her  victim. 

58 


LIFE  UNDER  THE   "LONE   PINE" 

"Well,  Captain  Fitchett,  it's  awfully  nice  to  see 
you  again.  So  you  found  us  at  last !  I  began  to 
think  you  had  gone  on  to  Shanghai,"  was  her  cor- 
dially disingenuous  greeting  to  a  tall  awkward 
man,  who  bowed  with  a  jerk  of  his  very  blond  head. 
His  hand  advanced  only  after  she  had  withdrawn 
hers,  seeing  which  he  blushed  painfully.  His  face 
bore  the  ineradicable  look  of  a  life  on  the  sea; 
the  deep  leather  color  paled  a  little  by  the  joy  of 
seeing  her,  after  many  days  of  starving.  He 
stared  at  her  with  wide,  unblinking  eyes,  uncon- 
scious that  he  was  smileless. 

When  he  spoke,  two  facts  were  at  once  evident : 
that  New  England  was  his  birthplace,  and  that  he 
sprang  from  primitive  people.  Now  and  then 
Britishisms  adorned  his  artless  speech. 

"Miss  Talty,  what  you  have  just  said  isn't 
square.  You  told  me  not  to  come  till  to-day;  and 
you  knew  I  was  no  more  likely  to  go  over  to  Shang- 
hai till  I  did  see  you  than — well — anything  you 
like  to  name.  Now,  didn't  you?" 

"Sit  down,  over  there — that's  the  only  mascu- 
line chair  we  have.  I'll  ring  for  tea." 

"Please  don't,  I  don't  want  what  I've  got  to  say 
to  get  mixed  up  with  'how  many  lumps'  and  all 
that !  'Tain't  easy  to  keep  you  on  the  right  course 

59 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

any  time,  let  alone  foolin'  with  crockery.  Now, 
didn't  you  know  I'd  come?"  he  persisted. 

"Well,  now  you  draw  my  attention  to  it  so 
forcibly,  Captain  Fitchett,  I  confess  I  rather 
thought  you'd  come  to  say  good-by  to — Julie." 

For  some  reason  her  indirectness  always  gave 
him  intense  pleasure,  and  he  laughed  suddenly,  and 
then  his  face  fell  into  its  usual  gravity  and  he  said 
slowly : 

"It's  real  holy  to  me,  what  I  have  to  tell  you 
before  I  go.  Somehow  it's  the  best  part  of  the 
stuff  I  carry,  and  the  deepest  in  the  hold.  A  man 
keeps  things  like  that  down  in  him  in  a  strong  box ; 
sometimes  he  never  comes  across  the  key  to  it,  and 
it's  buried  just  so  with  him,  and  that's  the  worst 
of  all.  And  sometimes  he  loses  it  after  he's  had 
it;  and  sometimes  he  finds  it  and  it  fits  all  right — 
but  all  the  same,  it  isn't  meant  for  his  key-ring, 
and  he's  just  got  to  let  it  lay  and  pass  on  whistling 
and  playing  he  don't  care  much  one  way  or  other, 
so's  nobody'll  feel  bad.  Do  you  make  anything 
out  of  what  I'm  trying  to  say?" 

"I  think  I  understand,"  murmured  a  much-sub- 
dued Adele,  all  gentleness  with  meekly  folded 
hands. 

"I  know  your  place  in  life,  Miss  Talty,  and  I 
60 


LIFE   UNDER  THE   :<LONE   PINE" 

know  mine.  It's  just  one  of  those  facts  (like  a 
mountain  and  a  valley)  that  was  so  when  we  came 
into  the  world.  You  can't  change  things  like  that 
— not  rightly,  now  can  you?" 

"Please,  please,  Captain  Fitchett,  if  you  knew 
what  a  vain,  shallow,  horrid  nature  I  have;  why, 
yours  is  worth  ten  of  mine — truly!"  she  cried 
earnestly. 

"Yes,  I  know,"  was  his  calm  reply;  "you're  not 
more  important  than  the  flowers  are,  but  it 
wouldn't  be  much  of  a  world  to  live  in  without 
them,  all  the  same.  I  guess  flowers  come  naturally 
to  mean  something  special  to  sailors." 

He  stopped  and  for  the  first  time  his  eyes  left 
her  face,  and  wandered  out  of  the  window  down 
to  the  bay,  where  sampans  danced  about  in  the 
sharp  afternoon  breeze  that  swept  up  from  the 
China  Sea. 

Adele  was  utterly  at  a  loss  with  this  man  in  his 
present  mood,  with  whom  (among  others  less 
primitive)  she  had  amused  herself  on  the  steamer 
coming  over. 

She  sat  ill  at  ease,  somewhat  awed,  and  humili- 
ated by  her  undesired  success. 

"You  asked  me  once  about  my  life,  but  I  couldn't 
tell  you  with  all  those  others  round,  always  laugh- 

61 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

ing.  I've  come  to  tell  you  to-day,  and  then  I'm 
going  away.  I've  lived  twenty  years  in  Shanghai, 
off  and  on.  I  take  political  prisoners,  that  come 
round  by  Suez,  up  to  the  Russian  penal  colony  at 
Saghalien.  Then  we  bring  down  coal  to  Port 
Arthur.  My  passengers  are  mostly  prisoners.  A 
man  sees  cruel  things  and  he  can't  do  much  about 
it,  but  look  away.  But  I'm  the  skipper  and  I  do 
what  I  can.  It's  a  hard  life.  Yes,  that's  the  way 
I  learned  to  speak  Russian,  and  know  such  a  lot 
of  criminal  yarns.  You  always  used  to  wonder. 
There's  a  heap  of  underground  business  going  on 
out  here,  that  ain't  got  into  the  papers  yet.  It'll 
be  in  books  by  and  by.  Oh,  yes,  I'm  in  it  up  to 
the  eyes,  but  so  long  as  I'm  in  their  employ,  I'm 
not  talking  much.  They  pay  me  all  right — those 
Russian  fellows — and  they  let  me  be.  There's 
money  in  it,  direct  and  indirect  the  cumshaw  sys- 
tem rules  in  China,  no  use  fighting  it.  You  give  and 
you  take.  And  I  want  it  for  my  little  girl  Manthy. 
Oh,  I  knew  I'd  surprise  you !  She  was  born  twenty 
years  ago,  and  I  never  laid  eyes  on  her  till  this 
trip  home — first  one  in  all  that  time.  I  left  her 
with  mother,  I  wanted  she  should  be  brought 
up  pukka.  She's  neat  and  she's  good,  and  goes  to 
church,  and  I  dress  her  nice,"  he  paused,  watching 

62 


LIFE  UNDER  THE   "LONE   PINE" 

for  the  effect  pathetically,  and  Dell  did  not  dis- 
appoint him.  "Takes  four  and  a  half  yards  to 
make  those  loose  bodices  women  wear  now,  doesn't 
it?  I  thought  I  had  about  the  size  of  it.  Well,  I 
got  her  six  of  'em,  all  silk.  I  just  let  her  choose,  and 
she'd  laugh,  and  blush,  and  the  clerks  thought  we 
were  a  young  couple.  You  see  I  took  her  down 
to  Boston  to  give  her  a  good  time.  I  fixed  her 
out  real  nice.  I  didn't  stint  any  money  on  Manthy, 
once  I  got  back  to  her.  I'd  been  saving  a  long 
time,  and  I  guess  I  can  save  again.  I  don't  know 
which  I  like  the  best:  saving,  or  blowing  it  all  in 
at  once.  Two  ancestors  scrapping  in  me,  you 
think?  Well,  I  guess  that's  just  it!  Hadn't 
thought  of  that.  Miss  Talty" — he  hesitated,  feel- 
ing his  own  pulse,  not  hers,  before  going  on :  "I'd 
like  to  tell  you  about  the  way  Manthy  and  I  met. 
I  never  told  anyone,  even  mother.  I  felt  down 
sick  from  excitement  when  I  got  home,  and  I  saw 
mother  first  (looking  not  a  day  older,  by  ginger!) 
and  I  told  her  to  send  my  baby  in  to  me,  and  leave 
us  alone.  And  she  came  in  and  I  couldn't  speak, 
and  I  had  to  sit  down  sudden,  I  felt  so  queer. 
Somehow  I'd  got  it  into  my  head  she'd  be  a  little 
bit  of  a  girl,  you  see,  although  mother'd  sent  me 
one  or  two  pictures  of  her.  There  she  stood  in  the 

63 


PEACE   AND    THE   VICES 

door-way  tall,  like  me,  and  so  clean  and  pretty,  and 
I  liked  the  way  she  did  her  hair.  And  I  knew  in 
a  second  by  her  eyes,  as  a  man  always  knows,  that 
she  was  good.  That's  what  I  liked  best  of  all. 
And  there  we  were,  both  of  us  plum  scared  to 
death!  But  she  was  a  grown-up  woman,  and  I 
was  sort  of  surprised  at  mother  leaving  her  alone 
with  me — after  Shanghai.  I  didn't  think  I  had 
any  right  to  touch  a  big  girl  like  that — after — 
well,  after  the  way  men  live  out  here.  Oh,  I  was 
all  adrift,  and  in  a  fog,  and  couldn't  get  the  sun. 
I  vow  I'd  a-been  there  yet  if  it  hadn't  been  for 
Manthyl  She — Miss  Talty — she  waited  and  she 
waited,  staring,  and  then  she  must  have  felt  sorry 
for  me,  for  she  ran  to  me  and  she  put  her  arms 
around  my  neck  and  she  whispered,  shy-like,  just 
one  word:  'Papa!'  and  I  don't  remember  the  rest 
very  well — something  burst  inside  of  me,"  he 
ended  simply. 

Dell's  eyes  were  full  and  she  caught  her  breath. 

"I'm  glad  I  told  you — I  was  afraid  I  wouldn't 
be.  I  couldn't  bring  myself  to  talking  with  mother. 
Mother  she's  a  good  woman,  and  strong,  and  did 
well  by  Manthy;  but  my  girl's  mother  was  a 
Roman  Catholic,  and  mother'll  never  get  over  it 
as  long's  there's  life  in  her.  Say,  do  you  know 

64 


LIFE  UNDER   THE   "LONE    PINE" 

Vermont?  Ever  lived  there?  Well,  I  married 
her  just  the  same.  And  the  candle  of  her  life  was 
blown  out  just  as  the  baby's  was  lit.  Mother  said 
it  was  a  judgment.  I  wouldn't  even  look  at  the 
baby,  never  laid  eyes  on  her!  And  there  wasn't 
anything  to  keep  me,  but  I  had  my  trade,  and  I 
got  this  offer  out  here  from  the  Russians,  and  I 
came.  Mother's  been  good  to  Manthy  and  raised 
her  nice,  but  she's  a  Presbyterian  all  right!"  a  smile 
softened  his  face  for  an  instant.  "Every  other 
year  I've  got  to  go  home  now,  Manthy  says,  or 
she'll  get  married  to  punish  me.  I  believe  I'd  kill 
a  man  if  he  took  her  away  from  me  now!  Think 
not?  Well,  perhaps;  I  can't  have  her  out  here, 
you  see.  A  little  white  thing  like  that  in  Shanghai, 
and  I  away  most  of  the  time?  No,  I  can't  have 
her,  that's  settled.  She  has  ways  like  you,  Miss 
Talty;  sort  of  saucy,  and  teasing  and  exciting 
somehow;  and  she  says  more  than  she  means — or 
lots  less — you  never  know.  But  you  like  it  all  the 
same.  There's  something  sort  of  naughty  about  it, 
and  yet  a  man  knows  down  under,  it  really  isn't. 
I  don't  seem  to  be  able  to  get  hold  of  what  I  do 
mean." 

"And  Manthy's  mother,  tell  me  about  her?" 
asked  Dell,  thinking  only  to  please  the  man. 

65 


PEACE   AND   THE   VICES 

To  her  amazement  he  answered  shortly: 

"That's  best  left  alone,  I  think." 

"I  did  not  mean — I  only — I  beg  your  pardon, 
Captain  Fitchett,"  poor  Dell  stopped,  confused 
for  one  of  the  few  times  in  her  life. 

"That's  all  right,  Miss  Talty.  I  want  you 
should  know  everything  you  do  is  all  right  always. 
But  all  that  hurt  so  long,  shut  up  alone  with  it, 
that  I  can't  touch  it  even  for  you;  any  more  than 
I'd  let  anyone  speak  of  you  to  me.  I  guess  I'm 
saving  in  my  affections  same's  my  pocket,  till  it 
comes  to  spending  it  on  the  two  or  three  people  I've 
ever  loved  in  all  my  life,  then  I'm  game  to  the  last 
copper  cash,  and  don't  you  forget  it!  And  now 
I  must  be  going.  I  sail  at  six."  He  arose, 
walked  to  the  window,  and  with  his  back  turned, 
presently  said: 

"There's  something,  Miss  Talty,  that's  been 
teasing  and  teasing  me  for  a  week,  I  wonder 
if  you'd  let  me  use  a — word  once  before  I  go? 
I  know  I'd  feel  quiet  if  you'd  let  me  say  it." 

"Oh,  I'm  so  sorry  about — everything!  Yes, 
yes,  I  trust  you  absolutely — Manthy's  father? 
Ah,  how  could  I  do  otherwise?" 

He  crossed  the  room,  and  his  great  brown  hands 
swallowed  her  little  white  ones,  and  he  said  with 

a  quiet  gentleness: 

66 


LIFE   UNDER  THE  "LONE  PINE" 

"It's  all  here — the  love — but  there's  no  use. 
It's  going  to  be  a  great  comfort  to  me,  just  the 
same,  if  you'd  let  me  write  to  you  about  Manthy. 
Good-by,  dear — dear!"  he  repeated  lingeringly, 
and  then  he  was  gone. 

"Mammy,  O  Mammy!  come  here  to  me.  this 
minute,  I  want  you !"  wailed  Dell  in  the  hall,  and 
when  the  old  woman  came  breathless,  the  girl  threw 
herself  into  the  black  arms  that  had  framed  all  her 
moods  since  she  was  born.  And  Mammy  went 
back  to  baby  talk,  rocking  the  girl  back  and  forth 
on  her  knee. 

"Dere,  dere !  Mammy'll  take  a  sharp  stick  ter 
dose  ole  silly  teahs — cl'ar  out'n  dis,  spilin'  de  purty 
eyes !  Ole  debbil  ob  a  man,  raisin'  a  row  jes  co'se 
she  kyarn't  marry  him — kyarn't  marry  all  ob  um !" 

"Mammy,  he  didn't  ask  me.  It  isn't  that.  It's 
because " 

The  old  nurse  heard  only  the  first  phrase,  and 
holding  Dell  off  from  her  by  the  shoulders,  she 
sternly  asked: 

"He  didn'  done  arsk  yer?  Wot  yer  mean,  Miss 
Dell?  Wot  fer  yer  wase'n  de  whole  breathin' 
arfternoon  on  him,  'less  he  was  a  co'tin'  yer?  Wot 
fer  yer  bus'  right  out  weepin'  and  wailin'  like  dis?" 

"He's  so — so  good — and  this  time  it  wasn't  any 

fun  at  all!" 

67 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

"Yer  ain'  got  no  call  ter  cry  'cause  a  man's  good 
— 'ceptin'  an  'scusin'  de  rareness  of  it!  I  'clar, 
I'se  right  'shamed  'bout  dis,  I  sutney  are,  Miss 
Dell !  Arfter  yo'  ma  an'  I  raised  yer  so " 

"Please  don't  scold,  he  would  have  asked  me  if 
I  had  encouraged  him,  truly  he  would.  And  you'd 
never  understand,  dear  old  Mammy,  if  I  talked 
a  year." 

"Oh,  he  would?  Well,  I  reckon  we-all  '11  git 
on  s'prisingly  well  widout'n  him!  Nuthin'  but  a 
po'  white  trash  Yankee  man,  anyhow,  an'  Miss 
Im'gen  she  'grees  wid  me!" 

The  negress  relaxed  her  grasp  on  Dell,  and  drew 
her  again  toward  her,  emitting  sundry  sounds  of 
gradual  pacification,  and  soon  peace  was  once  more 
established  between  the  two. 


68 


CHAPTER    IV 

TWO    CABLEGRAMS   FROM   HONG   KONG 

"  Fate  steals  along  with  »ilent  tread." 

OH,  Dell!"  cried  Dora  one  afternoon, 

prolonging  the  vowel  in  southern  fashion : 
"Come  here,  I've  got  something  to  tell  you." 

Mrs.  Fellowes  had  just  come  in  from  her  search 
for  salt-cellars,  which  furnished  her  the  daily  mo- 
tive for  long  strolls  about  the  native  town,  as  its 
cognates  have  generations  of  otherwise  sane 
Anglo-Saxons,  when  the  Oriental  seed  of  barter 
once  begins  to  germinate  within  them. 

"Find  any  saka-dzuki-daif"  asked  Adele,  ad- 
vancing down  the  hall,  her  finger  in  a  book. 

"Yes,  three  perfect  beauties!  Darlingest  old 
hideous  things  you  ever  laid  eyes  on,  outside  of  a 
nightmare.  I'll  show  you — but  that's  not  what 
I  want  to  tell  you.  Whom  do  you  suppose  I  met 
at  old  Sato's?  Now,  guess!  I'll  give  you  three 
guesses — I'll  give  you  thirty-three !  Walked  in  as 
cool  as  ever,  twice  as  handsome,  and — I'll  not  tell 

69 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

you  another  thing  if  you  don't  get  a  little  excited 
about  it."  Dell  spurned  all  surmises,  and  her  book 
tucked  under  her  arm,  began  to  untie  the  queer 
little  packages  pendant  from  bits  of  coarse  split 
straw-rope. 

When  Dora  could  no  longer  stand  the  irritating 
silence,  she  exclaimed: 

"Doctor  Robb !"  and  openly  revelled  in  her 
sister's  uncontrollable  surprise  and  embarrassment. 

"You  don't  mean  Passed  Assistant  Surgeon 
Stoneleigh  Robb,  United  States  Navy?"  the  girl 
demanded  hysterically. 

Dora  walked  away  toward  her  room,  bent  on 
revenge. 

"When's  he  coming?"  cried  Dell,  starting  after 
her,  full  tilt,  before  she  could  lock  her  door.  But 
it  was  too  good  a  chance  shot  to  lose,  and  over  her 
shoulder  Dora  tossed: 

"Coming?  I  didn't  say  he  was  coming.  He's 
going — on  the  O.  and  O.  steamer  at  five  this  after- 
noon, as  soon  as  they  coal." 

"Indeed I     Any  other  news?" 

Dell  strove  after  vocal  indifference,  and  over- 
did it. 

"Oh,  then  you  wouldn't  mind  a  little  mundane 
chatter  after  all?  I  wouldn't  intrude  for  worlds  I" 

70 


TWO   CABLEGRAMS  FROM  HONG  KONG 

baited  Dora,  feeling  for  hat-spears  before  the 
glass. 

"Dora !"  pleaded  the  one. 

"Dell!"  teased  the  other. 

"Well,  I  want  to  talk  too  badly  to  waste  any 
more  time.  He's  ordered  to  the  'Boston'  I  Doc- 
tor Steinberg's  eyes  have  given  out — isn't  that  per- 
fectly lovely?" 

"He  probably  would  not  agree  with  you," 
carped  Dell,  at  odds  with  life  in  general. 

"Which  he?  what  he?  You've  got  me  all 
jumbled  up — but  you  know  what  I  mean  perfectly 
well,  Dell,  you  know  you  do.  Anyhow,  Doctor 
Robb  got  his  orders  exactly  two  weeks  after  we 
left,  he  said." 

"Well,  but — what  did  he  say  about  things  gen- 
erally ?  About  the  family  ?  About — good  heavens, 
did  you  two  just  sit  and  jabber  about  these  silly  old 
salt-cellars  the  whole  afternoon?"  cried  Dell  with 
asperity,  sitting  on  the  edge  of  the  bed,  and  twitch- 
ing once  more  at  Dora's  purchases. 

"Never  once  mentioned  salt-cellars — and  it 
wasn't  we  two,  it  was  we — three!"  Dora  wanted 
her  sister  to  marry  Doctor  Robb,  and  her  ways 
were  feminine. 

"Three!     That   stands   always    for   discord — 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

old  Sato  is  a  chatter-box."  Dell  arose  and  started 
for  the  door,  so  her  back  was  turned  when  Dora 
added: 

"I  forgot  to  say  that  he  had  a  stunning  creature 
with  him  from  the  steamer;  ashore  together  for 
the  day,  sight-seeing  and  getting  tortoise-shell  and 
photographs.  He's  been  out  before  and  knows 
the  ropes,  you  see.  He  introduced  us,  but  Sato 
came  in  with  a  perfectly  heavenly  salad-bowl  (old 
Imari,  Dell,  red  and  green!),  and  we  all  screamed 
together,  and  I  lost  the  name.  Anyhow  she  had 
gorgeous  grayish-blue  eyes,  with  golden  lashes — 
sweetest  effect  you  ever  saw " 

"Doesn't  sound  very  attractive,"  said  she  of  the 
heavy  brows,  standing  before  a  kakemono  beside 
the  door,  which  she  knew  every  line  of  already, 
to  the  point  of  nausea. 

"And  such  hair!  And  she  wore  one  of  those 
new  covert-cloth  jackets  with  bands  of — "  but  the 
door  closed  with  a  bang  that  set  all  the  kakemonos 
shivering  sensitively  against  the  walls.  Reopening 
her  door  to  a  crack,  Dora  laughingly  called  after 
the  retreating  figure: 

"O  Dell!  please  tell  Mammy  Doctor  Robb 
asked  about  her,  and  sent  his  love." 

Miss  Talty's  chagrin  would  have  appreciably 
72 


TWO   CABLEGRAMS  FROM  HONG  KONG 

diminished  had  she  known  that  Doctor  Robb's  con- 
duct in  Nagasaki  had  been  very  carefully  consid- 
ered beforehand  by  that  sagacious  young  man; 
both  as  to  what  he  had  done  and  left  undone,  and 
he  had  gone  on  his  way  rejoicing  that  for  once 
the  Fates  had  graciously  lent  their  aid.  Her  real 
indifference  might  be  cured  by  his  assumed  in- 
difference. 

Mammy's  frank  delight  at  the  doctor's  message 
was  but  one  more  item  in  his  nice  calculation  of 
chances.  She  had  her  intensely  strong  likes  and 
dislikes  among  Miss  Adele's  many  suitors.  More 
than  once  in  the  girl's  brief  social  life  in  Richmond 
the  old  woman  had  taken  a  man's  card  at  the 
door,  and  slipped  it  under  the  great  dusty  pile  in 
the  punch-bowl  on  the  hall-table;  and  said  not  a 
word  when  her  young  mistress  returned  and  de- 
manded tidings. 

The  young  naval  surgeon  had  won,  at  their  first 
meeting,  all  of  Mammy's  intuitive  approval  and 
active  collusion,  although  no  word  had  ever  passed 
between  them  anent  an  occult  end.  The  old  ser- 
vant's general  pride  in  Miss  Talty's  witcheries  was 
for  once  in  abeyance  before  this  one  man's  purpose. 

About  a  week  after  the  transit  of  Apollo,  Miss 
Talty  entered  the  summer-house  one  hot  afternoon 

73 


PEACE   AND   THE   VICES 

to  find  O  Hani  standing,  her  face  hidden  in  one 
of  her  long  sleeves,  from  which  loud  and  pro- 
longed sniffles  announced  native  feminine  grief. 
Yamaguchi,  devoured  by  curiosity,  clipped  nearby 
an  inoffensive  young  cedar  into  the  shape  of  a  de- 
formed stork,  pretending  absorption  in  his  fell 
work;  his  attention  riveted  on  Mammy,  who  was 
on  her  knees  before  the  amah,  sewing  with  wide 
sweeps  of  her  vigorous  right  arm. 

"Why,  Haru,  what's  the  matter?"  asked  Dell. 

"Wa-kari-ma-sen!"  whined  the  amah,  who  in- 
deed comprehended  nothing  of  this  assault. 

"Mammy,  what  on  earth  are  you  doing?"  de- 
manded Miss  Talty,  catching  up  Julie  and  putting 
her  on  the  little  centre-table,  where  she  executed 
a  delighted  pas  seul,  hanging  to  her  aunt's  fore- 
fingers. 

"I  ain'  goin'  ter  stan*  it  not  another  minute, 
Miss  Dell!  Traipsin'  roun'  wid  her  skirts  all 
open  down  de  front !  Dis  heah  klomono's  goin'  ter 
be  sewed  right  clean  on  up  toe  de  torp — 'scusin' 
a  plocket  fo'  de  silly  haid  ter  come  froo.  De  ole 
ones  puttin'  shoe  black  on  dere  teefs,  makin'  b'lieve 
like  dey  done  finish  wid  de  vanities  ob  dis  heah 
worl' — oh,  I'se  been  readin'  in  de  books  all  'bout 
itl  an'  all  de  endurin'  time  dey's  splayin'  dere 

74 


TWO  CABLEGRAMS  FROM  HONG  KONG 

laigs  ebry  step,  an'  no  stockings  on,  Miss  Dell! 
'Taint  decent,  an'  I  tole  yo'  ma  long  time 
'go,  I'd " 

"Mammy,  let  Haru  go,  and  go  into  the  house; 
I'll  explain  things  there  later  on,"  said  Dell, 
smothering  her  glee  on  Julie's  shoulder.  The 
negress  obeyed,  but  for  two  days  thereafter  she 
went  about  sunk  into  a  fathomless  sullen  silence 
that  they  all  knew,  and  which  no  one  ever  dis- 
turbed. A  mood  when  the  primitive  savagery  of 
the  creature  for  a  time  held  complete  sway  over 
her  passionate  nature.  After  a  time  the  thin  cob- 
web of  civilization  was  once  more  spun  back  and 
forth,  screening  the  old  primal  instincts,  and  she 
cringed  before  the  two  sisters,  wordlessly  begging 
for  love  and  pardon. 

The  day  that  speech  returned  to  Mammy,  she 
knocked  at  Miss  Talty's  door,  and  entering,  drew 
the  bolt  with  one  of  her  swift,  noiseless  gestures. 
Then  she  advanced  and  handed  Dell  a  pink  paper, 
which  she  read  and  reread  with  growing  concern. 

It  was  from  Hong  Kong,  addressed  to  "Caro- 
lina," and  read:  "K.  needs  D.,"  signed  Talty. 

It  had  been  decided  that  Mammy,  who  could 
read  and  write  and  upon  whose  tact  and  judgment 
they  had  all  their  lives  relied,  was  to  remain  in 

75 


Nagasaki  with  little  Julie,  whithersoever  all  the 
others  might  scatter  in  pursuit  of  pleasure,  or  in 
obedience  to  official  orders;  and  to  her  all  cable- 
grams were  to  be  sent,  at  Jack's  insistence.  She 
knew  the  whole  tragedy  of  Dora's  married  life  and 
was  the  only  creature  allowed  to  see  Kent  when  he 
was  "not  himself."  Imogen  was  still  in  entire 
ignorance  of  the  truth,  and  regarded  Kent  Fel- 
lowes  with  about  an  equally  divided  feeling  of  ad- 
miration and  fear — fear  of  his  great  reserve,  dig- 
nity, and  that  something  sad  and  elusive  about  him 
which  she  had  always  felt.  Adele  still  kept  up  the 
fiction  of  knowing  nothing  of  the  shadow  over- 
hanging her  sister's  life;  so  it  will  be  seen  that  her 
brother's  brief  message  carried  in  its  train  many 
perplexities. 

"I  don'  reckon  we'd  bes'  leave  dis  tablegram 
roun'  kyarless,"  Mammy  said  dryly,  as  she  tore  the 
paper  into  the  smallest  bits. 

Adele  sat  silent  before  her  little  chijimi  draped 
dressing-table,  brushing  her  great  cape  of  hair  un- 
consciously again  and  again  in  one  spot. 

"Any  ray  ob  light  pokin'  he'self  froo  a  chink  in 
yo'  hay-lof  yet,  missy?" 

"Not  a  ray,  Mammy." 

"Seems  like  pore  Miss  Im'gen  done  get  mo' 
76 


TWO   CABLEGRAMS   FROM   HONG   KONG 

an'  mo'  spur'flus  like.  She  ain'  bein'  begged  fo' 
de  pleasure  ob  her  comp'ny  in  dis  heah  message 
fum  Mars'  Jack,  is  she,  Miss  Dell?" 

"No,  Mammy." 

"Mighty  like  Mars'  Jack  ter  plump  a  thing 
down  like  dat  an'  stroll  off  easy-like,  an'  leave  de 
projectin'  ter  we-all,  ain'  it,  Miss  Dell?" 

"Mighty  like,  and  I  tell  you  right  now,  Mam- 
my, I'm  never,  never  going  to  marry!"  and  the 
girl  suddenly  tossed  back  her  hair  and  began  to 
arrange  it.  Mammy  gave  her  low  musical  chuckle 
as  she  stood  handing  the  tortoise-shell  hair-pins, 
one  at  a  time. 

"Yo'  ma,  she  say  de  same  thing  'bout — lemme 
see — well,  'bout  fo'-five  weeks  prev'us  to  de  wed- 
din'  ceremonies!  Yas'm,  she  did!  I  done  hyar 
Ole  Aunt  Bene  tell  all  'bout  it,  at  leas'  a  thousan' 
times.  Do  yer  know,  Miss  Dell,  I'se  been  stud'n 
on  dis  gettin'  an'  givin'  in  mar'age,  a  powerful 
lot,  I  has;  an'  sometimes  I  think  'tain't  a  real  nat- 
chul  dispoposition !  No'm,  'tain't.  De  man  he 
sutney  do  kick  like  a  mule  'gains'  it — an'  de  gyrl 
she  strain  herself  pullin'  away — but,  Gawd!  when 
de  fever  do  begin  ter  take  hole !  Den  she  kyarn't 
sew  fars'  nuff  gettin'  ready,  an'  he? — well,  he  ain' 
doin'  any  more  dem  kickin'  shines,  he  ain' ;  'ceptin' 

77 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

'gainst  de  long,  long  time  she  do  take  ter  git  ready, 
an'  drivin'  him  jes'  stark,  starin',  plum  crazy!" 

"You  can  go  on  chattering  for  a  week,  Mammy 
Lina,  but  we've  both  got  to  come  back  to  Mister 
Jack's  cable,  just  the  same ;  and  what  to  do?  What 
to  say?  What  not  to  say?" 

"Oh !  it's  all  easy  miff  'bout  Miss  Dora.  I  done 
send  dat  deah  old  Yamagoosy  man  down  erready, 
Miss  Dell,  toe  arsk  'bout  de  steamer,  an'  dere's 
one  to-morror;  dat's  all  right,  dat's  nuffin.  But 
de  real  pebble  in  de  shoe  is  Miss  Im'gen!  I 
reckon  she'll  give  Mars'  Jack  a  s'prise  party,  an' 
go  on  over  ter  Hong  Kong  widout'n  a  invitation, 
don't  you,  missy?" 

Adele  had  completely  disappeared  under  a  cur- 
tain of  hair  suddenly  let  down  over  her  face,  in 
that  critical  moment  of  nice  quantitative  judgment 
which  decides  the  success  of  a  pompadour,  and  she 
made  no  response. 

"Fo'  de  pars'  ten  days,  de  cap'n's" — Mammy 
had  always  called  Kent  that — "han'writin'  show 
jes'  as  plain  dat  de  fight  was  a  comin' !  Miss  Dora 
she  notice  it  mighty  quick;  I  see  her  settin'  all 
shrinked  up  intoe  herself — you  know  de  way  de 
pore  chile  act  when  it  comes?  Jes'  like  a  flower 
look  in  de  mo'nin'  when  Mars'  Jack  Frost  been 

78 


TWO   CABLEGRAMS   FROM   HONG   KONG 

payin'  his  compliments  de  night  befo'.  When  de 
cap'n  he's  all  right,  he  done  write  big  an'  proud- 
like,  but  when  de  debbil  in  him  begin  rub  his  eyes 
an'  wake  up,  he  write  all  small  an'  scrouged-up, 
like  he  'shamed  ob  hisself." 

"Yes,  Mammy,  I  know,"  sighed  Adele  drearily. 

After  breakfast  Mammy  told  Mrs.  Fellowes  the 
news,  berating  herself  soundly  for  losing  the  paper. 
But  from  Lieutenant  Talty's  summons  the  sting 
had  been  taken  by  the  sagacious  old  woman.  Even 
then  the  young  wife  went  restlessly  about,  her 
sweet  face  pinched  with  the  old  dread.  She  told 
her  sister  and  Imogen  that  Kent  was  not  particu- 
larly well,  and  she  thought  best  to  join  him  for  a 
few  weeks  in  Hong  Kong. 

Imogen's  voluble  rage  and  jealousy  at  not  being 
similarly  solicited  by  her  husband,  when  Kent  had 
obviously  begged  his  wife  to  join  him — although 
for  some  reason  they  would  not  show  her  the  tele- 
gram— was  for  once  welcome,  and  hid  the  general 
embarrassment. 

"Well,  Lieutenant  John  Calhoun  Talty,  ap- 
pointed from  Richmond,  Virginia,  I'll  see  you 
later!  Amah,  you  go  catchee  my  number  one 
trunk-box,  chop-chop;  have  got  kitchen-side,"  com- 
manded Imogen  in  her  pidgin  English,  which  was 

79 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

a  wild,  rootless,  sporadic  growth  of  her  own,  al- 
most valueless  as  a  means  to  an  end. 

"Yes,  sir  or  madam,  as  the  case  mebbe,"  said 
Ham  proudly  from  the  height  of  her  newly 
acquired  phrase-book  knowledge;  and  the  laugh 
which  followed  the  tiny  woman's  exit  had  the 
tonic  effect  it  generally  has  upon  a  harassed  house- 
hold. 

The  next  afternoon  Dora  and  Imogen  sailed 
away  on  the  great  white  Canadian  Pacific  steamer 
"Empress  of  India,"  and  one  hour  later  a  cable- 
message,  addressed  directly  to  his  wife,  came  from 
Lieutenant  Fellowes.  Adele  opened  it :  "  'Boston' 
sails  to-day  for  docking,  Nagasaki,"  and  she  and 
Mammy  sat  and  stared  blankly  into  each  other's 
eyes.  Finally  the  former  said  slowly  to  herself: 

"My  brother  sent  that  first  message  without 
Kent's  knowledge,  trusting  to  Dora's  tact.  Kent 
does  not  know  Dora  has  started,  as  she  said  she 
would  not  wire  him  until  she  reached  Shanghai, 
and  could  be  more  sure  of  the  day  and  hour  of 
arrival  in  Hong  Kong,  to  save  him  the  strain  of 
longer  waiting,  and  Imogen  was  silent  because  she 
was  furious.  Mammy,"  Dell  arose  excitedly,  "if 
we  can  get  word  to  them  in  Shanghai  and  they 
can  catch  a  return  steamer  at  once,  as  the  liners  are 

80 


TWO   CABLEGRAMS   FROM  HONG  KONG 

so  much  faster  than  any  man-of-war,  we  can  get 
them  back  in  time.  Get  my  hat  and  parasol,  quick, 
quick!" 

Mammy  leaned  over  the  gate  and  watched  the 
slim  white  figure  running  down  to  the  Settlement. 

"If  de  cap'n  came,  and  find  Miss  Dora  done 
gone  away,  jes'  now  when  he  need'  her  so !  I  doan 
like  de  looks  ob  it,  nohow !"  and  she  got  her  sew- 
ing and  sat  on  the  top  step  of  the  veranda  and 
waited.  A  prophetic  thrill  of  impending  disaster 
ran  through  her  a  half  hour  later  when  she  saw 
her  young  mistress  dragging  herself  slowly  up  the 
lane,  ill-tidings  written  large  upon  the  relaxed, 
weary  face  and  figure.  Mammy  raised  her  head, 
breathing  deeply  through  her  flattened  nostrils,  her 
eyes  fixed  on  the  swaying  tree-tops;  and  Adele 
found  her  so,  as  she  approached  and  stood  wonder- 
ing; and  then  frightened  she  shook  her  violently 
by  the  arm,  and  the  negress  turned  slowly  and 
looked  at  her  with  dazed  eyes. 

"Yer  needn'  tole  me,  Miss  Dell;  dere  ain'  no 
steamer,  an'  de  'Boston'  '11  be  hyar  befo'  dey  can 
get  away  fum  dat  deah  Shanghai-place.  An'  all  de 
res'  is  jes'  damn !" 

"Mammy,  I  forbid  your  using  that  word!  I've 
told  you  twenty  times  I  will  not  allow  it.  I'm 

81 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

ashamed  of  you!"  and  Miss  Talty  walked  past 
her  into  the  house.  The  old  woman  sat  and 
grumbled  to  herself,  breaking  out  now  and  then 
viciously  with  the  forbidden  word;  and  then  sink- 
ing back  into  the  old  formless  mumbling. 

However,  the  emergency  of  the  hour  soon 
brought  them  together  again  for  counsel  and  sym- 
pathy. The  despatch  to  Shanghai  was  already  on 
its  way,  there  was  now  absolutely  nothing  to  do 
but  wait. 

After  the  fourth  day,  mistress  and  maid  took 
turns  speeding  down  to  the  Bund,  every  time  a 
salute  was  fired,  in  search  of  the  white  cruiser  fly- 
ing from  its  staff  the  Stars  and  Stripes.  Adele  had 
asked  at  the  American  consulate  if  the  "Boston" 
had  been  in  Nagasaki  within  a  year,  and  the  nega- 
tive answer  told  her  that  the  expected  man-of-war 
would  salute  the  Japanese  flag  upon  entering  the 
port.  For  that  signal  she  waited  in  growing  trepi- 
dation. The  consul  had  already  been  informed  of 
the  coming  of  the  American  war-ship,  as  he  had 
to  arrange  with  the  Japanese  authorities  the  ques- 
tion of  docking  privileges.  From  him  Adele 
learned  that  the  "Boston"  was  coming  direct  across 
from  Hong  Kong,  and  from  that  moment  she  re- 
nounced all  hope  of  Dora's  return  in  time.  But 

82 


TWO  CABLEGRAMS  FROM   HONG  KONG 

with  all  their  watchfulness  the  ship  slid  to  her 
anchorage  late  one  afternoon,  unobserved,  unan- 
nounced, no  salute  being  fired  after  sunset  in  any 
port;  and  Imogen  not  there  to  tell  them  of  the 
simple  fact. 

An  officer  of  the  "Boston"  had  to  go  ashore  at 
once  after  anchoring,  on  business  for  the  captain 
at  the  consulate  relative  to  the  docking,  and  the 
first  lieutenant,  knowing  Mrs.  Fellowes  had  set- 
tled herself  in  Nagasaki,  sent  Fellowes.  He  start- 
ed at  once  in  the  boat  with  the  mail  orderly.  Just 
as  he  was  stepping  into  the  steam-launch,  Talty 
ran  down  the  ladder  and  said  in  a  low  tone  to 
his  brother-in-law : 

"Kent,  I  wish  you'd  wait  for  me.  I'll  be  free 
to  go  in  fifteen  minutes.  I — er — have  not  told 
you — it  was  to  be  a  sort  of  surprise  between  Dora 
and  me — but  there's  just  a  chance  she  may  have 
started  for  Hong  Kong." 

"The  deuce,  you  say!"  cried  Fellowes,  his  face 
turning  white  with  anger. 

"Come  back,  old  fellow,  and  wait  for  me. 
We'll  hunt  them  up  together,"  begged  Jack. 

"Shove  off !"  ordered  Fellowes  savagely. 

"It's  only  the  merest  chance !"  called  Talty  after 
the  boat ;  cursing  inwardly  his  present  unsuccessful 

83 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

incarnation  as  he  ascended  the  gangway  with  slow 
steps. 

Lieutenant  Fellowes  went  directly  to  the  con- 
sulate, where  he  only  saw  a  subordinate,  and  him 
very  briefly.  He  opened  a  telegram  from  Tokio 
and  wrote  out  a  reply  to  it,  as  instructed,  in  the 
captain's  name,  a  copy  of  which  was  enclosed  in 
the  commander's  packet,  sealed,  and,  with  the 
great  bag  of  home  mail  for  the  ship,  intrusted  to 
the  mail  orderly. 

Kent  could  not  bring  himself  to  ask  about  his 
wife's  movements,  and  left  the  consulate  still  in 
ignorance ;  the  nervous  strain  growing  momentarily 
upon  him,  that  had  commenced  in  the  languorous 
tropical  atmosphere  of  Hong  Kong.  His  mid- 
watch  thoughts  had  ever  clung  through  all  this 
separation  to  the  dear  picture  of  Dora  waiting  for 
him  in  some  high-perched  place,  all  trees  and  flow- 
ers, and  little  Julie  beside  her  dancing  and  laugh- 
ing and  calling  out  to  him — and  they  were  always 
in  white — the  mother  and  child  alike. 

With  one  coolie  in  front  and  two  atoshi  behind, 
his  jinrikisha  flew  along  the  Oura  road,  over  the 
bridge,  past  the  back  of  the  hotel,  from  the  open 
windows  and  green  swinging  half-door  of  which 
came  a  strong  odor  which  started  the  moisture 


TWO   CABLEGRAMS  FROM    HONG  KONG 

upon  the  brow  of  the  American  officer,  already 
half  ill  from  long  battling  with  desire,  to  which  he 
had  not  yet  yielded. 

Something  outside  of  himself  could  only  at  this 
point  rescue  him  from  the  fast  mounting  obsession 
in  possession  of  him,  body  and  soul.  Surely  it  lay 
alone  in  Dora's  sweet  shy  eyes,  in  the  healing  touch 
of  her  cool  soft  hand,  in  his  baby's  little  gurgle  of 
delighted  recognition. 

Fellowes  reached  the  gate  of  "Ippon  Matsu," 
where  his  three  coolies  gladly  dumped  him,  and 
stood  panting  out  their  exaggerated  fatigue.  He 
tossed  upon  the  seat  the  usual  overpayment  of  a 
sailor's  first  day  ashore,  opened  the  gate  of  the 
compound  and  entered. 

It  was  all  strange  to  him,  the  stiff  lawn  and  the 
redundantly  cared  for  hedges  and  shrubs,  the  peb- 
bled paths,  the  great  gnarled  pine  coming  through 
the  roof,  unhomelike  in  its  weirdness — and  silence 
everywhere.  It  was  far  removed  from  what  he 
was  longing  for,  in  every  strung-up  fibre  of  his 
tortured  being. 

Cook-san  came  running  from  his  quarters  in  re- 
sponse to  the  peal  of  the  bell,  and  his  "No  have 
got"  was  Kent's  home-greeting. 

Fellowes  stalked  into  the  bungalow  to  the  con- 
85 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

sternation  of  the  hovering  Japanese,  who,  after 
one  frightened  glance,  turned  and  disappeared. 

Kent  wandered  forlornly  from  room  to  room 
until  he  came  to  his  wife's — unmistakably  hers 
from  a  score  of  dear,  sacred  signs.  He  stood  be- 
side her  dressing-table,  looking  down  and  gently 
fingering  those  dainty  little  addenda  of  the  femi- 
nine toilet,  familiar  to  him  and  yet  forever  enigma 
to  his  masculine  understanding.  Then  suddenly 
he  knew  the  truth. 

Beside  his  framed  photograph  in  uniform  was 
the  tiny  silver  vase  of  flowers  she  always  kept 
there;  and  the  clematis  blossoms  were  faded, 
shrivelled  at  the  edges,  a  few  petals  fallen — she 
was  gone!  He  broke  away  with  a  loud  cry  of 
"Dora!"  and  threw  himself  down  beside  the  bed 
on  his  knees,  buried  his  face  in  the  pillows,  his 
hands  outstretched  and  clinched  over  his  head. 
The  door  softly  opened,  Mammy's  black  eyes 
looked  in,  saw  it  all,  and  gently  withdrew. 

Kent  presently  dragged  himself  slowly  to  his 
feet,  stood  looking  about  as  if  bewildered,  and 
then  left  the  room,  closing  the  door  behind  him. 
In  the  dining-room  he  poured  out  a  glass  of  ice- 
water  to  moisten  a  mouth  and  throat  parched  al- 
most to  the  point  of  suffocation;  after  one  swallow 

86 


TWO   CABLEGRAMS   FROM   HONG   KONG 

he  put  down  the  glass  hastily,  with  a  shiver  of  dis- 
gust. The  man  was  in  an  agony  only  known  to 
the  haunted  of  the  earth.  His  senses  were  in  such 
a  state  of  susceptibility  that  the  mere  coldness  of 
the  glass  of  ice-water  sent  a  sharp  pain  through 
his  arm;  the  odor  of  the  morning  coffee  lingered 
in  the  room  sickeningly  discernible  to  his  irritated 
sense  of  smell;  he  winced  at  the  light  peering 
through  the  sudare  overhanging  the  open  win- 
dows; the  ticking  of  his  watch  affected  him  as 
would  the  rapid  thud  of  a  great  piece  of  machin- 
ery. Such  was  his  sensorial  condition  that  it 
seemed  as  if  he  "should  die  of  that  roar  which  lies 
on  the  other  side  of  silence."  To  bring  back  the 
usual  "well-wadded  stupidity"  of  ordinary  health- 
ful being  was  what  he  longed  for,  not  the  means 
itself;  the  effect  of  drink  is  the  poisoned  fang. 
The  taste  of  it  was  always  hateful  to  Fellowes,  as 
to  many  another  who  dragged  much  heavier 
chains. 

He  took  his  hat  and  went  to  the  conservatory- 
like  entrance-hall,  in  which  the  great  trunk  of  "Ip- 
pon  Matsu"  formed  the  central  object.  The  floor 
was  the  pebbled  earth,  the  walls  and  roof  were 
glass,  and  everywhere  were  ferns,  and  palms, 
bamboos,  camellias,  huge  gardenias,  and  vines  run- 
ning riot. 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

Kent  paced  rapidly  back  and  forth,  and  then, 
sank  into  a  wicker  chair,  his  head  fell  back,  his 
eyes  closed,  his  hat  dropped  from  his  trembling 
hand.  His  fine  face  was  congested,  distorted  as  if 
seen  in  a  convex  mirror. 

Mammy  found  him  there  when  with  heavy 
tread  and  loud  exclamations  of  surprise  she  ap- 
proached for  the  second  time. 

"How  d'y  do,  Cap'n?  It's  mighty  nice  ter  see 
you,  sah,  deed'n  it  sutney  is.  Cook-san,  he  come 
a  flyin'  an'  cry  out:  'Okii  dannasan  have  got!' 
(De  fool  way  dey  talk  out  hyar!)  I  was  sound 
'sleep,  sah.  Miss  Dell  an'  little  missy  dey  gone 
down  toe  de  flower-market.  Dey'll  be  hyar  to- 
rectly."  She  picked  up  his  hat  and  stood  before 
him  with  a  feeling  of  helplessness  novel  to  her. 
He  winced  at  her  loud  cheerful  voice,  but  his  rigid 
lips  fell  into  the  pitiful  lines  of  a  forced  smile, 
and  he  opened  his  eyes  and  looked  up  at  her  smil- 
ing black  face,  and  held  out  his  hand. 

The  instant  she  touched  his  burning  palm, 
and  looked  into  his  heavy  bloodshot  eyes,  she 
knew  it  was  too  late — nothing  could  undo  the  in- 
fluence of  that  first  fatal  ten  minutes  in  the  empty 
house.  But  she  would  not  yield  without  a  fight. 
She  ran  to  the  kitchen  and  ordered  a  cup  of  black 

88 


TWO  CABLEGRAMS  FROM   HONG  KONG 

coffee  at  once,  bringing  back  with  her  when  she 
returned  a  small  soft  pillow,  which,  while  she  chat- 
tered on,  she  slipped  quietly  under  his  head.  His 
face  twitched  at  the  woman's  gentle  touch,  and 
suddenly  he  again  seized  her  hand  and  wrung  it  in 
silence. 

"Yas,  Cap'n,  Mammy  know  all  'bout  it.  I  un- 
derstan',  chile — and  I  boun'  ter  help  yer  all  I  can, 
sah !  It's  a  monstrous  shame  ter  have  things  turn 
out  dis  way!  It  is  fo'  shore!  We  jes'  been 
racin'  and  rarin'  up  an'  down  dat  ole  hill  out 
yonder  fo'  days  an'  days  watchin'  fo'  you,  sah, 
an'  Mars'  Jack.  Deed  an'  we  has.  I  don't  see 
how  come  we-all  missed  de  salute  nohow !  Cap'n, 
jes'  think  ob  pore  Miss  Dora !  She  jes'  nuver  will 
get  over  dis  mistake  we-all  made.  Yer  see, 
sah,  she  was  dat  crazy  toe  see  yer,  we-all  'sided 
she  bes'  go  right  on  over  ter  Hong  Kong — an'  she 
no  mo'n  lef  on  de  steamer  dan  'long  cum  yo'  own 
tablegram,  sah!" 

"Mammy,  tell  me  the  truth,  when  will  Mrs. 
Fellowes  return?"  he  asked  hoarsely. 

"Why,  she's  comin'  right  quick.  She's  on  de 
way  now,  yas,  sah.  De  steamer  comin'  in  any 
minute  now,  an'  den  won't  der  be  a  grand  confus- 
tercation  in  dis  heah  funny  ole  bangalow?  Dat's 

89 


PEACE   AND   THE   VICES 

what  Miss  Dell  she  call  it,  I  dunno  what  fur,  sah," 
lied  the  negress  grandly,  as  she  always  did  when  she 
considered  the  truth  inexpedient;  seeing  no  evil 
whatever  in  a  lie  told  for  love's  sake,  but  he  knew 
in  his  heart  she  was  misleading  him,  knew  it  abso- 
lutely. 

He  started  up  suddenly  and  reached  for  his  hat, 
saying : 

"I'm  going  for  a  long  tramp,  Mammy.  I  think 
it  will  do  me  good.  Hot?  Is  it?  I  don't  seem 
to  feel  it  after  Hong  Kong."  Then  her  great  res- 
onant voice  broke  out  excitedly: 

"Aw,  Cap'n,  not  befo'  little  Miss  Julie  see  her 
papa?  Not  befo' — why,  Cap'n,  yer  jes'  oughter 
hyar  dat  chile  say  'my  ba-ba !'  Has  Miss  Dora 
tole  yer  'bout  dat?  Keepin'  it  fo'  a  s'prise,  I 
reckon.  I  think  dere's  dey  voices  now,  comin'  up 
de  lane !  Yas,  sah,  dey  shorely  is." 

"I  want  to  go  off  alone  and  take  a  long  walk," 
he  repeated  obstinately. 

Then  the  coffee  came,  and  to  please  her  he  tried 
to  drink  it,  but  again  he  turned  from  it  with  un- 
controllable repulsion. 

"Tell  Miss  Dell  I'll  be  back  for  dinner.  I 
don't  suppose  you  have  it  till  eight.  In  summer 
nobody  does."  He  walked  toward  the  door, 

90 


TWO  CABLEGRAMS  FROM   HONG   KONG 

Mammy  had  been  thinking  deeply,  and  she 
started  violently  as  she  saw  him  slipping  from 
her  grasp.  With  a  gesture  of  desperation,  she 
exclaimed  : 

"Befo'  yer  go,  Cap'n,  jes'  step  inside,  sah.  No, 
I'll  bring  it  out  hyar.  Jes'  wait  one  little  teensy 
minute,  Cap'n,  will  yer,  jes'  ter  please  ole  Mam- 
my? Thank  yer,  sah  !"  She  went  into  the  house, 
still  talking  all  the  time,  with  a  soft  coaxing  note 
in  her  voice.  She  returned  carrying  a  lacquer  tray, 
on  which  stood  a  bottle  of  Scotch  whiskey,  a 
siphon,  and  a  tumbler  full  of  ice. 

Fellowes  looked  at  her  in  amazement,  and  then 
he  understood  the  old  servant's  attempt  to  keep 
him  at  home  at  all  costs. 

The  blood  ran  into  the  man's  face,  and  he  stood 
a  moment  in  silence  with  bowed  head,  and  then 
said,  gently: 

"No,  Mammy,  none  of  that.  I  understand  you. 
Do  not  fear.  Do  you  hear  me?  I'm  coming  back 
to  dinner,"  and  he  went  down  the  steps,  across  the 
lawn,  and  out  of  the  gate. 

The  negress  stood  staring  after  him,  tears  run- 
ning down  her  face,  still  holding  the  tray  by  which 
she  had  sought  to  buy  his  presence,  until  the  others 
came  to  help  her. 

91 


PEACE   AND   THE   VICES 

"De  cap'n  done  gone.  Fo'  Gawd,  Miss  Dora, 
I  done  my  bes'  ter  keep  'um !" 

She  sat  down  on  the  steps,  the  tray  beside  her, 
and  rocked  herself  back  and  forth  in  misery;  and 
Dell  found  her  there  a  half  hour  later. 


92 


CHAPTER    V 

FELLOWES   IS   MISSING 

"  O  beautiful  awful  Summer  day, 

What  hast  thou  given,  what  taken  away !  " 

AFTER  the  long-delayed  dinner — to  which 
Kent  did  not  return — Jack  left  the  house 
on  one  of  those  pitiful  subterranean  hunts  for  a 
lost  soul,  but  it  was  three  days  before  Kent  was 
found. 

During  that  time  Dora  had  returned,  alone. 
Imogen,  in  one  of  her  febrile  climaxes,  refused  to 
leave  Shanghai  until  requested  to  do  so  by  a  shame- 
fully defaulting  husband. 

"Ippon  Matsu"  sheltered  a  silent  and  disinte- 
grated household.  Dora,  after  the  first  shock  on 
learning  the  truth  from  her  brother,  who  met  her 
on  her  arrival,  had  no  intercourse  with  anyone  save 
Mammy.  She  stayed  in  her  own  room  with  locked 
door,  pacing  back  and  forth  all  through  the  day, 
and  lying  listening  all  through  the  long  terrible 
nights  for  the  wandering  step  that  did  not  come. 

93 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

Each  time  the  negress  knocked  at  her  door,  Dora 
flew  and  opened  it,  whispering:  "Has  he  come? 
have  they  found  him?"  Her  face  was  very  old, 
and  white,  and  thin;  and  the  look  in  her  young 
eyes  a  thing  to  turn  away  from,  shuddering. 

Captain  Pehoe,  of  the  "Boston,"  was  one  of 
those  men  who  glory  in  their  own  limitations.  His 
virtues  were  best  told  in  negatives. 

He  was  a  misplaced  monk,  with  a  gift  for  propa- 
gandism  not  properly  appreciated  by  his  social 
environment. 

Pleasure,  from  music  to  golf;  beauty,  from  a 
violet  to  a  sunset;  all  life's  dear  excess,  was  tem- 
peramentally offensive  to  him,  albeit  he  used  other 
captions  than  these.  He  was  not  only  a  bachelor, 
but  proud  of  it.  A  good  officer,  a  man  of  flaw- 
less rectitude,  his  ships  were  always  the  cleanest  in 
the  Navy — and  always  the  most  unhappy. 

Fellowes'  absence  was  reported  by  the  executive 
officer  at  quarters  next  morning,  and  a  half  hour 
later  Talty  was  called  to  the  captain's  cabin,  and 
in  response  to  a  question,  replied: 

"I  do  not  know  where  Lieutenant  Fellowes  is, 
sir." 

"You  went  ashore  together?  Or  you  saw  him 
after  leaving  the  ship  anyhow?" 

94 


FELLOWES  IS  MISSING 

"Neither,  sir." 

"Has  a  search  been  made  for  him,  Mr.  Talty?" 

"Yes,  sir." 

"That  will  do,  Mr.  Talty.  Orderly,  tell  the 
doctor  I'd  like  to  see  him."  And  a  few  moments 
later: 

"Doctor,  did  you  notice  anything  unusual  in 
Lieutenant  Fellowes  when  you  last  saw  him?" 

"Yes,  sir." 

"Ah-h,  been  drinking?" 

There  was  no  answer. 

"Doctor  Robb,  I  ask  you  if  in  your  opinion 
Lieutenant  Fellowes  had  been  drinking." 

"No,  sir,  not  one  drop." 

"What  was  there  unusual,  then?" 

"I  noticed  the  extreme  tension  and  irritability 
of  the  man's  whole  nervous  system,  sir." 

"Due  to  what?" 

"Well,  Captain,  it's  a  long  story.  The  objec- 
tive symptoms  as  shown  at  that  time,  do  not  neces- 
sarily give  us  the  whole  etiology  of  the  case,  sir," 
and  the  doctor  smiled  kindly  upon  a  world  full 
of  faults. 

"I  can  understand  English  about  as  well  as  the 
average  man,  Doctor  Robb,  and  I  insist  on  your 
putting  into  one  word,  or  phrase,  what  you  are 

95 


PEACE   AND   THE   VICES 

driving  at."  Pehoe's  voice  was  in  its  most  rasping 
key. 

"Very  well,  sir!  In  one  word:  Lieutenant  Fel- 
lowes'  condition  was  largely  due  to  the  fact  that 
he  was  not  drinking!" 

"That  will  do!  Orderly,  tell  Mr.  Sault  to  be 
ready  to  go  ashore  in  the  one  o'clock  boat." 

At  the  twelve  o'clock  breakfast  Doctor  Robb's 
place  was  vacant.  He  had  shifted  from  uniform 
into  citizen's  dress  at  once  after  leaving  the  cabin, 
hailed  a  sampan  and  gone  on  twenty-four  hours' 
leave.  As  he  went  up  the  hotel  steps,  a  Japanese 
dressed  in  European  clothes  advanced  toward  him 
from  the  veranda,  where  it  was  obvious  he  had 
been  waiting,  and  together  they  descended  the  steps 
and  walked  slowly  down  the  Bund,  in  absorbed 
conversation;  ending  with  the  passing  of  money 
from  the  white  hand  to  the  yellow. 

Many  previous  visits  to  Nagasaki  made  the 
finding  of  "Ippon  Matsu"  the  matter  of  a  few 
minutes,  and  Robb  rang  at  the  closed  and  well- 
barred  door,  shutting  its  teeth  down  over  its  own 
heart-breaking  secret. 

Mammy  opened  it.  He  put  his  finger  to  his 
lips,  and  beckoned  her  outside. 

"Get  yourself  ready  for  a  long  ride — we  may 
96 


FELLOWES  IS  MISSING 

be  out  half  the  night.  And,  Mammy,  I  wish  you'd 
take  off  that  turban  of  yours,  I  don't  want  people 
staring  at  us." 

"Yas,  sah.    Has — has  yer  found  him,  sah?" 

"No  questions,  please,  Mammy;  trust  me,  and 
come  quickly.  I'll  wait  outside  the  gate." 

"Yas,  sah,  torectly!"  and  she  slipped  inside, 
one  vast  glow  of  joy  from  head  to  foot,  the  in- 
stinct of  trail- following  tingling  in  her  veins. 

Doctor  Robb  had  as  good  a  head  as  hand, 
when  it  came  to  human  operations;  and  he  was 
absolutely  sure  of  the  negress'  intelligence  and 
discretion. 

Five  minutes  passed  and  then  she  rejoined  him 
as  silently  as  a  shadow,  and  he  smiled  his  satisfac- 
tion when  he  saw  the  long  rain-coat  that  enveloped 
her,  the  head-dress  replaced  by  a  large  hat  over 
which  a  heavy  veil  served  to  further  obliterate  all 
individuality. 

"Yas,  sah?"  was  all  she  said,  the  rising  inflec- 
tion suggestive  of  immediate  further  action. 

"O — o — oh,  Mammy!"  called  Dell's  voice 
softly  from  the  gate,  as  the  two  turned  the  first 
corner  of  the  narrow  road  leading  abruptly  up  the 
hill.  Doctor  Robb  felt  the  blood  rush  to  his  face 
— it  had  been  an  eternity  since  he  had  heard  that 
voice. 


PEACE   AND   THE   VICES 

His  heart  cried  out  within  him  to  go  back  and 
touch  the  only  hand  in  the  world  that  brought  him 
healing;  to  turn  back,  at  least,  to  see  her  for 
whom  he  hungered.  But  he  went  sturdily  on, 
and  Mammy,  who  had  the  head  of  a  great 
social  schemer,  chuckled  and  murmured,  as  if  to 
herself : 

"I  reckon  it's  somebody  else  'sides  yer  ole  Mam- 
my yer  callin'  arfter,  in  dat  deah  sort  er  coaxin' 
voice !" 

The  doctor  looked  sharply  at  the  old  woman, 
but  even  his  keen  eyes  could  not  penetrate  that  ex- 
punging veil. 

Farther  on  they  took  jinrikishas  with  three 
coolies  to  each,  and  with  the  hoods  raised  to  pre- 
vent possible  recognition,  they  started  off  toward 
the  road  to  Mogi. 

The  six  natives  toiled  slowly  up  the  long  hill, 
rested  at  the  top,  drinking  tea  between  many  tiny 
pipes  of  tobacco,  and  then  dashed  down  the  lengthy 
incline  to  the  sea.  Far  away  from  humanity  now, 
save  for  a  heavily  laden  peasant  now  and  then, 
upon  whom  the  jinrikisha  men  tried  their  impudent 
urban  wit,  as  they  swept  by,  inciting  each  other  by 
piercing  cries  to  greater  speed.  Long  after  the 
caravan  had  passed  the  peasants  stood  and  stared 

98 


FELLOWES  IS  MISSING 

after  it,  and  bethought  themselves  of  very  witty 
answers  when  it  was  too  late. 

The  smell  of  the  beach  came  strongly  to  their 
nostrils,  long  before  their  ears  caught  the  soft  sibi- 
lant murmur  of  the  sea  "raking  the  sea-worn 
pebbles  up  and  down." 

At  the  bottom  of  the  hill  they  passed  through 
the  little  fishing  village,  and  on  to  the  two  foreign- 
ers' tea-houses  nearer  the  beach,  under  wonderful 
old  twisted  pines,  which  as  usual  gave  a  tragic  note 
to  an  otherwise  commonplace  scene. 

Upon  their  arrival  before  the  first  chaya,  the 
doctor  helped  Mammy  to  alight,  sure  of  the  stiff- 
ness that  rendered  her  a  little  helpless  for  a  few 
moments.  Walking  her  up  and  down  briskly,  he 
asked  her  to  raise  her  veil,  as  if  to  remove  all  ob- 
stacles between  his  intelligence  and  her  quick  in- 
tuition. It  was  a  supreme  test  of  her  character  to 
which  he  was  subjecting  her,  and  that  she  was  not 
going  to  fail  him  he  felt  at  her  first  words: 

"I'se  took  de  greates'  fancy  ter  dem  bamboo- 
trees,  Mars'  Doctor,  back  yonder!" 

"Have  you,  Mammy;  how's  that?  I  prefer 
these  pines." 

"I  dunno  how  'tis,  sah;  but  seems  like  dey's  jes' 
a  passel  er  young  folks  tossin'  dey  little  haids  'bout 

99 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

an'  foolin'  an'  laughin'  in  de  warm  sunshine.  Dun- 
no  nuffin  yet — co'se  not  1  De  way  you  an'  me — an' 
de  pines — know.  Dat  deah  laugh  don't  come 
quite  so  easy  fo'  us,  do  it,  sah?" 

Her  wonderful  voice  played  upon  his  sensibili- 
ties as  it  always  did  on  all  who  knew  her,  and  he 
turned  abruptly  from  her  and  walked  apart  for  a 
moment.  When  he  returned,  he  stood  before  her 
and  said : 

"Now,  Mammy  Lina,  listen!  These  two  tea- 
houses here  may  contain  matters  of  interest  to  you. 
I've  seen  them  before.  I  must  not  know,  see,  hear 
anything.  Later  on  I  might  be  called  upon  to  talk 
under  oath." 

"O-oh !  Mars'  Doctor!  Dat's  not  comin',  is  it? 
Ain'  der  no  way  'round  it?  Oh,  my  little  Miss 
Dora!  Jes'  kill  'er,  sah!  Kill  'er  daid!"  broke 
out  the  old  woman  in  a  fierce  whisper. 

"Hush,  Mammy,  hush!  I  want  all  your  wits 
about  you.  If  he's  alive,  he'll  be  court-martialed; 
but  you  and  I  may  save  him  from  the  very  worst 
that  can  happen." 

"Yas,  sah!  Jes'  you  mek  use  er  me  anyways 
you  think  bes',  sah.  I'll  tell  lies — I'll  kill  anybody 
you  say,  sah.  Doan'  yer  hesitate  at  nuffin  't  all! 
I'se  one  ob  de  Taltys,  I  is,  an'  I  ain'  pesterin'  'bout 

100 


FELLOWES  IS  MISSING 

dis  ole  black  soul  ob  mine,  when  de  fam'ly  intres' 
is  at  state,  sah!" 

"All  right,  Mammy,  all  right!  It  need  not  go 
as  far  as  that,"  and  he  laughed,  but  with  tears  in 
his  eyes,  at  her  sudden  blaze  of  passion,  the  depth 
of  which  he  only  half  realized.  Then  he  added: 

"I  am  going  over  there  to  the  beach.  I  want 
to  see  the  fish  those  fellows  are  bringing  in  in  their 
nets.  Mogi  is  noted  for  its  fish;  people  come  out 
here  for  fish  tiffins,  Mammy,  in  case  anyone 
should  ask  you.  In  the  meantime,  while  I  wander 
about,  you  amuse  yourself  any  way  you  like.  After 
you  look  around  a  little,  if  you'd  like  to  stay  awhile 
— say,  till  dark — come  out  and  tell  me  so.  I'll 
go  back  to  Nagasaki  ahead  of  you.  I  have  an  en- 
gagement this  evening.  If  you  don't  see  anything 
of  enough  interest  to  keep  you,  tell  me  when  you're 
rested,  and  we'll  go  back  as  soon  as  we  have  our 
fish  cooked  and  eaten.  It's  the  thing  to  do  at 
Mogi." 

"I  understan',  sah,"  said  Mammy,  who  had 
listened  breathlessly.  Doctor  Robb  slipped  a  fore- 
finger into  his  vest-pocket  and  remarked: 

"You  may  need  a  little  silver  key  to — open 
doors  with,"  and  he  put  out  his  hand.  The  woman 
drew  back  with  a  quick  stiffening  of  her  long  neck: 

101 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

"No,  sah;  thank  you,  sah.  My  Miss  Dell  done 
gim  me  her  own  purse  befo'  I  lef  de  house.  She 
see  me  in  de  hall  as  I  was  a-creepin'  out  foxy-like, 
an'  she  say  dey  might  be  'mergencies  wot  would  rise 
up,  sah." 

The  doctor  went  to  the  beach,  and  his  compan- 
ion took  entire  possession,  after  an  insinuating 
manner  of  her  own,  of  the  nearest  tea-house.  She 
soon  emerged  followed  by  a  flock  of  awe-struck 
nesan,  headed  by  a  radiant  obaasan,  who  took  the 
lead  in  kneeling  and  touching  her  old  forehead  to 
the  matting,  greatly  to  Mammy's  embarrassment. 
The  negress'  face  was  stiffened  with  anxiety  and 
disappointment,  as  she  walked  from  one  chaya  to 
the  other,  a  little  nearer  the  beach.  She  went  in 
and  was  gone  a  much  longer  time.  When  she 
came  out  and  down  the  front  steps,  her  eyes  were 
blazing  with  excitement,  and  she  was  whispering 
to  herself. 

When  she  joined  Doctor  Robb  down  by  the 
boats,  now  beached,  she  had  assumed  a  nonchalance 
that  her  instinct  told  her  this  man  demanded 
of  her. 

"Any  good  eatin'  kind  o'  fish,  sah?"  she  asked 
quietly. 

"Good  enough,"  said  he,  abstractedly,  turning 
102 


FELLOWES  IS  MISSING 

to  her  and  trying  to  read  the  black  face  that  so 
easily  hides  its  secrets. 

"You  bes'  get  yo'  little  tuffin — teffin — tiffin — 
dat's  de  'spression  1  An'  go  on  back  toe  Nagasaki, 
sah.  De  bright  sun  sutney  done  give  me  a  misery 
in  my  haid  dis  day,  yas,  sah.  An'  I  ain'  goin'  ter 
'spose  myself  toe  it  'gain.  I'll  go  on  back  bime- 
by,  when  it  gets  dark  an'  cool.  I  think  dis  heah 
Mogi  right  nice  place,  sah." 

The  doctor  seized  her  hand  and  wrung  it, 
thereby  causing  gossip  among  the  gaping  fisher- 
men. 

"Mammy,  you're  great!  If  you  had  been  born 
white,  and  French,  and  two  hundred  years  ago, 
you'd  have  had  a  very  popular  salon!"  And 
so  they  separated. 

It  was  after  midnight  when  Mammy  reached 
"Ippon  Matsu,"  so  silently  that  even  Dora  (up, 
dressed,  alert  and  in  the  entrance  conservatory 
lying  in  a  Hong  Kong  chair)  heard  nothing  until 
the  woman  walked  swiftly  up  the  steps. 

"Mammy,  quick,  have  you  found  him?" 

"Yes'm,  I  has.  Dere,  dere,  honey  chile!  You 
go  on  ter  de  libra'y  an'  shut  de  do',  an'  say  yo' 
prayers  till  I  come  fo'  yer.  Don't  yer  worry  yo' 
little  haid  no  mo' — Mammy  done  brung  de  cap'n 
home!"  J03 


PEACE   AND    THE   VICES 

The  one  resident  European  physician  in  active 
practice — an  Italian — was  called  in  to  attend 
Kent,  now  physically  ill  from  exposure  and  several 
days'  starvation,  save  from  the  poison  that  had 
left  him  inhuman,  unconscious,  inert. 

Jack,  who  remained  on  the  ship,  found  his  only 
solace  in  the  fact  that  Imogen's  wrath  still  detained 
and  diverted  her  in  Shanghai. 

Dell  kept  him  advised,  ambiguously,  of  matters 
at  "Ippon  Matsu,"  realizing  with  vividness  what 
was  unescapably  ahead  of  them. 

Ensign  Sault  had  been  ashore  for  several  days, 
only  going  off  to  the  ship  each  morning  and  report- 
ing directly  to  Captain  Pehoe. 

Not  until  two  days  after  Mammy's  trip  to  Mogi 
did  the  energetic  young  ensign  report  to  the  cap- 
tain the  whereabouts  of  the  missing  officer  whom 
he  had  been  seeking.  Then,  acting  under  Captain 
Pehoe's  orders,  he  went  up  to  "Ippon  Matsu"  in 
uniform.  Sault  was  very  young,  very  ambitious, 
very  prone  to  overstep  the  unwritten  laws  con- 
trolling all  such  instructions. 

No  one  but  Mammy  had  been  allowed  to  re- 
spond to  any  outside  summons  at  "Ippon  Matsu" 
since  Kent's  return.  She  met  the  young  ensign's 
rather  pale  tense  face  with  one  of  her  most  un- 
principled smiles. 


FELLOWES  IS  MISSING 

"I  wish  to  see  Lieutenant  Fellowes,"  he  an- 
nounced, making  a  movement  to  enter. 

"I'se  so  sorry,  but  de  cap'n  jes'  dis  minute  gone 
out,  sah." 

Mr.  Sault  took  off  his  cap  and  wiped  his  smooth 
brow  and  then  said,  avoiding  the  fearless  black 
eyes  that  smilingly  confronted  him: 

"I  have  reason  to  think  Lieutenant  Fellowes 
is  in  this  house." 

"Deed  'n  I  wish  he  was,  sah,  you'se  so  'ticular 
'bout  seem'  him!"  Her  smile  was  now  one  of 
pure  joy  at  seeing  an  old  friend  of  the  family — 
ingenuous,  naive,  childlike. 

Sault  received  no  inspiration  whatever  from  his 
boots,  but  continued  to  search  for  it. 

"Miss  Dell  she's  gone  out  too!  I'd  arsk  yer 
ter  come  right  in  an'  wait,  sah,  but  I  happen  toe 
hyar  her  say  she  goin'  ter  tea  at  de  Scotch  lady's 
crost  de  bay!  I'se  'fraid  dat  means  'bout  seven 
o'clock,  sah!" 

"I  came  to  see  Lieutenant  Fellowes  on  business 
and  I  shall  stay  until  he  returns,"  interrupted 
Sault,  throwing  himself  with  a  boyish  movement 
into  one  of  the  chairs  on  the  porch. 

Mammy  knew  he  must  not  remain  there. 
The  house  was  very  quiet  just  then,  but  it  had  not 

105 


PEACE   AND   THE   VICES 

always  been  so  during  those  two  days  and  nights. 
She  stood  a  moment  contemplating  the  obstinate 
figure  of  the  intruder,  and  then  she  said : 

"I'll  jes'  step  in  an'  see  if  Mrs.  Fellowes  done 
woke  up  yet.  She's  been  mighty  sick — Miss  Dora 
has.  Mebbe  she  can  tell  when  the  cap'n  he  comin' 
in.  Den  you  can  come  back  hyar,  bimeby,  sah." 

She  turned,  leaving  the  door  barely  ajar,  assum- 
ing Ensign  Sault  to  be  of  gentle  birth;  but  it  so 
chanced  that  he  was  not,  and  when  she  returned 
he  was  standing  in  the  hall.  Every  trace  of  smiling 
was  instantly  stricken  from  Mammy's  face;  her 
head  went  erect  like  a  snake's,  her  nostrils  flattened, 
and  her  voice  was  unrecognizable  as  she  whispered, 
close  to  his  face: 

"I  s'all  have  ter  arsk  yer  ter  step  outside,  sah, 
not  ter  'sturb  Mrs.  Fellowes  on  no  'count,  de  doc- 
tor he  say." 

"I  shall  wait  very  quietly  here,"  said  the  mis- 
guided youth. 

Mammy  put  her  hand  quickly  inside  her  huge 
white  kerchief,  and  when  she  withdrew  it,  Sault 
faced  the  barrel  of  a  small  pistol. 

"I  uster  core  apples  wid  dis  heah  gun  when  I  was 
a  young  nigger  down  in  Virginia,  I  did ;  an'  I  doan' 
reckon  I'd  miss  many  pits,  even  now !  Yo'  bes'  get 

106 


FELLOWES  IS  MISSING 

out'n  dis  house  mighty  quick,  sah!"  she  hissed, 
in  a  sudden  blaze  of  wrath,  listening  through  all, 
for  the  sound  she  dreaded,  from  the  room  beyond 
the  dining-room. 

"This  shall  be  reported  to  Captain  Pehoe!" 
Sault  exclaimed  too  astonished  for  more.  Even  his 
meagre  experience  recognized  the  all  too  evident 
savage  intensity  of  the  thoroughly  aroused  creature 
before  him.  He  turned  and  went  out.  She 
bounded  after  him,  and  when  she  had  closed  the 
door  behind  her,  her  voice,  out  of  its  leash  followed 
him  to  the  gate,  as  did  the  snap  of  her  fingers  as 
she  went  on  in  a  fury,  all  Africa  in  her  face : 

"Dat  fo'  yer  ole  ship !  Dat  fo'  yer  sneaky  ole 
cap'n!  Po'  white  trash,  bot'n  yer!  Dis  heah 
my  house,  dese  yere  my  folks — I  dass  de  whole 
damn  lot  ob  yer,  yer  hyar  me?" 

And  then  when  he  had  gone,  she  sat  down  sud- 
denly on  a  Chinese  tabouret  near  the  door,  trem- 
bling now  from  head  to  foot,  whispering  brokenly 
to  herself: 

"I — I'se  mighty  glad  he  'sidered  it  bes'  ter  go 
on  away  out'n  dis — I  sutney  are !" 

And  then  came  that  loud,  coughing  unhuman 
groan,  as  of  a  spirit  adrift  in  hell,  from  the  room 
beyond  the  dining-room. 

107 


CHAPTER   VI 

UNDER  THE   CAMPHOR-TREES 

"  My  misfortune  is  that  you  have  no  need  to  be  loved  as  I  lore." 

WHILE  Mammy  was  making  a  display  of 
basic  instinct  roused  in  defence  of  fire- 
sides, Adele  wandered  heart-sick,  about  the  native 
town,  seeking  streets  unfrequented  by  the  foreign 
residents,  with  whom  she  had  cancelled  all  engage- 
ments. 

She  ended,  from  habit,  on  the  seat  among  the 
great  camphor-trees  back  of  the  Osuwa  Temple. 
Anxious  to  the  point  of  physical  distress,  isolated 
socially  as  she  had  never  before  been  in  her  life, 
she  sat  completely  absorbed  in  the  tragedy  at  "Ip- 
pon  Matsu,"  to  relieve  which  she  was  entirely 
helpless. 

She  never  wearied  of  the  seat  in  the  cool  twilight 
of  those  dense  trees,  which  shrouded  every  out- 
look, save  where  the  boughs  vouchsafed  to  frame 
a  small,  circular,  exquisite  view  of  the  bay  far  be- 
low. No  one  was  in  sight.  She  was  above  the 

108 


UNDER    THE    CAMPHOR-TREES 

endless  noisy  circuition  at  the  Temple  of  the  Bronze 
Horse;  the  cries  of  a  passing  dai-kagura,  perform- 
ing in  the  street  below,  had  focussed  all  the  wan- 
dering children,  and  thus  she  had  the  loveliest  spot 
in  Nagasaki  to  herself. 

Taking  off  her  hat  and  laying  it  beside  her  on 
the  bench,  she  leaned  forward,  her  elbows  on  her 
knees,  her  eyes  on  the  Russian  fleet  below,  down 
there  in  the  shimmering,  sweltering  sunshine. 

"  'Man's  merit,  like  the  crops,  has  its  season,' ' 
she  murmured  to  herself  grimly,  shuddering. 

"Meaning  me,  and  now?"  demanded  a  cheerful 
voice,  and  Doctor  Robb  sank  upon  the  bench  be- 
side her.  He  would  have  been  willing  to  offer  any 
odds  during  the  twenty  minutes  he  had  deliberately 
been  following  her,  that  she  could  do  nothing 
that  would  surprise  him  at  this  stage  of  their  ar- 
rested friendship,  but  it  was  as  well  no  one  had 
been  there  to  take  him  up,  for  he  would  have  lost ! 

She  started  violently,  threw  both  her  hands  out 
toward  him,  and  with  a  long  moan  of  "O-h,  Doc- 
tor!" she  burst  into  tears,  hiding  her  face  in  her 
arms  on  the  back  of  the  seat. 

In  an  instant  he  was  close  beside  her,  and  after 
that  one  swift  precautionary  glance  about,  that 
becomes  instinctive  in  a  man  of  thirty,  his  arms 

109 


PEACE   AND   THE   VICES 

were  about  her,  and  he  was  whispering,  his  face 
against  hers : 

"You  do  care!  You  did  miss  me!  Ah,  dear, 
I'm  so  glad,  so  glad!" 

After  three  or  four  sobbing  breaths,  and  almost 
before  he  had  finished  speaking,  the  ineradicable 
diablerie  of  the  girl's  nature  had  returned,  and 
she  gently  disengaged  herself,  and  moved  shyly 
away  to  the  far  end  of  the  bench,  and  sat  demurely 
preening  her  ruffled  plumage;  murmuring  with 
bewitching  coquetry: 

"This  is  so  sudden!  and — and  you  are  sitting 
on  my  hat!" 

"The  devil!"  cried  Robb,  springing  to  his  feet 
and  walking  away  in  justifiable  wrath. 

Her  heart  sank  as  he  went,  her  eyes  clung  com- 
pellingly  to  his  broad  obstinate  back;  she  gave  a 
distinctly  coaxing  cough  and  waited,  breathless. 

He  returned  suddenly,  to  find  her  absorbed  in 
her  hat's  rehabilitation.  He  stood  in  front  of  her 
and  began  to  laugh;  and  after  one  quick  comical 
glance  up  at  him,  she  laughed  too.  Then  he  leaned 
over,  took  her  hand  and  shook  it  cordially,  raised 
his  hat,  and  bowing  low  exclaimed : 

"How  do  you  do,  Miss  Talty?  Such  a  de- 
lightful surprise!  Where  did  you  drop  from?" 

no 


UNDER    THE    CAMPHOR-TREES 

She  beamed  approval  of  his  controlled  mood, 
and  with  her  free  hand  tapped  the  bench  beside 
her  invitingly. 

She  had  never  yet  reached  that  point  in  her  re- 
lations with  any  man,  when  humor  becomes  an 
intrusion — when  love  feeds  in  mirthless  silence. 

Doctor  Robb  had  yet  a  little  more  need  of 
patience,  as  he  realized  with  a  sigh,  as  he  again 
sat  down  beside  her.  He  loved  every  atom  of  her 
complex  nature,  most  of  all  its  complexity. 

But  her  mood  was  already  changing,  the  re- 
action after  the  first  genuine  laugh  following  days 
of  genuine  sorrow  had  set  in,  and  the  next  glance 
of  her  eyes  showed  them  full  of  tears. 

"Doctor,  it  has  been  terrible!  Dora  and — of 
course  you  know?" 

"Yes,  dear,  I  know,"  he  answered  gently,  and 
she  did  not  reprove  him. 

"I  am  not  wanted — anywhere.  I  can  do 
nothing  but  leave  them,  and  I  wander  about  till 
I'm  ready  to  drop.  Dora  constantly  asks  Mammy, 
in  that  awful  whisper,  where  I  am;  and  if  she  hears 
I  am  out  of  the  house,  somehow  it  quiets  her." 

"Poor  little  girl!" 

"Doctor,  how  will  it  end?  If  I  only  knew  what 
was  ahead  of  us!" 

in 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

"Prepare  yourself  for  about  the  worst,"  he  said 
slowly,  deeming  it  the  kindest  thing  to  do. 

"It  will  kill  her!"  she  cried,  her  voice  sharp 
with  pain. 

"No,  it  will  not.  A  doctor  gets  to  know  women 
pretty  well — only  pretty  well,"  he  added  gloomily, 
and  Dell  shot  a  glance  at  him,  "and  your  sister 
is  made  of  the  brave  old  feminine  stuff  of  a  past 
generation,  which  endures  much — and  is  but  the 
stronger  and  sweeter  for  it.  There  are  very  few 
such  left,  I  find.  This  younger  generation  of 
women  compels  my  professional  admiration  for 
physique  and  altitude — but  it  stops  right  there  I" 

"Father  used  to  say  that  the  cry  of  'good  old 
times'  was  due  to  a  very  slow  adjustment  of  one's 
own  optical  apparatus,"  said  Dell.  "I  remember 
standing  once  before  a  great  artist's  painting  of 
a  mountain  scene,  and  I  ventured  to  speak  of  the 
incongruity  between  the  discord  in  the  foreground, 
and  the  peace  and  repose  in  the  background.  He 
replied :  'There  always  is  discord  in  foregrounds ! 
If  we  stood  over  there  on  that  rugged  mountain 
peak,  and  looked  over  here,  the  effect  would  be 
reversed.' ' 

"  Alack!  If  we  only  had  as  good  eyes  as  the 
birds,  at  once  microscopic  and  telescopic,"  smiled 

112 


UNDER    THE    CAMPHOR-TREES 

the  doctor,  willing  to  be  proved  wrong;  "all  the 
same,  my  little  philosopher,  our  business  is  with 
our  own  environment — the  foreground  of  thought, 
and  women  are  to-day  proud  of  the  wrong  things. 
Proud  of  so-called  common-sense,  that  slays  all 
sentiment ;  proud  of  the  curse  of  introspection  that 
hourly  takes  its  pulse  to  see  if  a  husband  agrees 
or  disagrees  with  her  temperament — if  so  be  he 
fails  to  agree,  off  with  his  head !  As  if  her  nature 
alone  had  rights — his  a  glove-like  flexible  thing, 
governed  by  the  verb  to  fit.  Luckily  only  one  sex 
has  leisure  for  pulse-feeling!  Her  newly  discov- 
ered individualism  is  the  real  shrine  before  which 
miladi  worships — the  new  woman,  leader  in  this 
age  of  divorce,  discontent,  discord,  and  undi- 
gested development,  that  has  not  yet  become  wis- 
dom!" 

"I  have  a  tremendous  esprit  de  sexe,  Doctor, 
and  you  hurt  me,"  she  said  softly. 

"It's  because  I  worship  woman,  that  I  regret  I 
do  not  like  women  better !  Do  you  suppose  I  like 
to  think  this :  that  in  my  lowly,  but  honest,  opinion 
an  enormous  percentage  of  divorces  of  the  day  are 
at  the  root  fed — not  in  the  outgrowth,  mind  you, 
by  any  means — but  at  the  root  fed  by  the  mod- 
ern wife's  incapacity  to  love?  It's  the  great 


PEACE   AND   THE   VICES 

disillusion  of  the  day.  Does  a  mother's  love 
shrivel  up  at  the  approach  of  evil,  suffering,  ill- 
ness, moral  or  physical?  Does  a  sister's?  A 
daughter's?  In  every  other  human  relation  wom- 
an is  strong,  brave,  fine.  It's  only  wifehood  that 
has  discovered  her  to  be  peevish,  egoistic,  selfish, 
nowadays,  oftener  than  is  good  for  the  world." 

"Poor  dear,  he's  always  under  her  feet,  you 
see,"  chirruped  Adele,  obstinately  frivolous,  and 
they  both  laughed. 

"If  she'd  only  feel  that  she  is  an  essential  part 
of  a  great  social  (or  divine,  if  you  will)  institu- 
tion as  dependent  upon  her  integrity  as  a  building 
is  dependent  upon  each  single  stone  in  its  make- 
up !  I  tell  you  marriage  is  woman's  work  in  the 
world,  the  failures  are  at  her  door." 

"Oh,  think  of  Dora!" 

"Just  what  I  am  thinking  of!  Her  marriage 
is  not  going  to  be  a  failure !  All  the  stuff  is  there 
for  failure,  Heaven  knows!  But  she  has  love's 
genius,  and  it  can  redeem,  and  will — all  but  a  mere 
brute.  Can  you  stand  any  more  ?  I'm  astride  my 
favorite  in  the  stables !" 

"  'Physicians  mend  or  end  us,' '  Adele  com- 
mented sadly. 

"We  Americans  are  just  now  passing  through 
114 


UNDER    THE    CAMPHOR-TREES 

a  sort  of  Virginolatry  such  as  the  world  has  never 
seen.  The  girl  is  society !  She  is  an  enfant  gatee, 
and  as  unhappy  as  such  always  are.  The  entire 
social  system  is  ordered — from  literature  to  table- 
talk,  with  an  eye — both  eyes — to  her  really  un- 
important development." 

"Unimportant,  the  future  mother?" 
"Yes,  beside  the  great  adult  world  of  thinking 
men  and  women — secondary,  quite !  One-third  of 
her  life  is  spent  in  learning  what  is  largely  untrue, 
one-third  in  unlearning  it,  and  the  last  third  in 
learning  the  truth.  Is  there  wisdom  in  that? 
Does  it  make  for  harmony?  Half  the  wretched 
failures  in  marriage  are  due  to  her  utterly  false 
estimates.  If  good  came  out  of  the  American  sys- 
tem one  could  stand  the  tuning  of  life  down  to 
her  pitch,  but  does  it?  Her  right  to  make  stand- 
ards, to  be  heard,  felt,  comes  later,  if  it's  in  her  at 
all*  We  men  aren't  quite  the  fools  we  look,  and 
we  learned  long  ago  that  unless  a  woman  is  content 
in  her  world  of  manners,  ethics  (conservers  of 
great  principles  therein — as  your  sister,  God  bless 
her!  is  conserving  marriage),  beautifiers  of  life, 
saints  to  the  suffering,  leaders  in  philanthropy, 
education — Lord,  the  field  is  broad  enough  1  if  she 
is  not  content  there,  the  poison  spot  is  in  her  own 

"5 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

heart — she  will  be  content  nowhere — she  has  for- 
gotten how  to  love." 

"Summer  thoughts  in  camphor!"  was  Adele's 
sole  comment,  looking  about  at  the  dark  thick 
foliage  of  the  grove,  and  he  shook  his  fist  at  her 
in  a  shout  of  laughter. 

"Is  it  at  all  worth  while  think  you,  O  ^scula- 
pius,  for  me  to  struggle  on  a  little  longer,  ob- 
scurely?" 

"Oh,  you!  You  haven't  lost  the  art  of  loving 
any  more  than  your  sister  has." 

"I  haven't  found  it  yet!" 

"Dora  Fellowes'  power  is  in  her  goodness,  yours 
lies  in  your  attractive  faults." 

"Captain  Fitchett  said  the  same." 

"Fitchett?  Don't  know  him.  Who  is  he?" 
The  doctor's  oracular  tone  had  fled. 

"A  man." 

"I  hastily  judged  as  much,"  and  the  young 
officer's  eyes  dwelt  upon  the  view  that  seemed 
suddenly  to  have  lost  some  of  its  charm. 

There  was  a  short  silence. 

"Will  Dora's  love  really  redeem  him  in  the  end, 
Doctor?"  the  girl  asked  gravely. 

"Life  does  not  always  deal  out  prizes  to  all 
who  deserve  them — not  by  a  long  shot.  It's  not 

116 


UNDER    THE    CAMPHOR-TREES 

so  simple  as  that — still,  I've  seen  a  miracle  or  two 
in  my  day.  I  often  think  that  some  great  soul- 
satisfying  exploitation  of  all  his  powers  might 
somehow  readjust  his  balance.  The  best  war 
material  often  lies  in  just  such  men — a  little  mad 
under  the  restraint  of  peace." 

"It  is  so  cruel — all  this — so  logically  relent- 
less." 

"Yes,  my  life-work  deals  with  the  hard  logic  of 
existence,  and  that  is  why  I  need  you  so,  dear — 
you — "  he  turned  to  her  with  a  great  glow  of  love 
upon  his  face. 

"Me?"  she  cooed  surprise. 

"You  are  all  the  other  side,  the  sunny,  happy, 
absurd,  fantastic,  adorable,  beautiful,  bewildering, 
tantalizing,  delicious  side — the  everlasting  femi- 
nine! Ah,  Adele!" 

"I  can  think  of  two  more  adjectives,  strangely 
overlooked,"  she  commented  severely. 

He  slid  along  the  bench  toward  her,  and  she 
hastily  lifted  her  hat  and  put  it  down  carefully 
on  the  other  side,  out  of  harm's  way — and  he 
laughed,  threw  his  arm  out  along  the  back  of  the 
seat  behind  her,  and  said  abruptly  and  with  smiling 
assurance : 

"Some  day,  young  lady,  you  are  going  to  love 
117 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

me.  It  came  to  me  suddenly,  just  now.  You'll 
stop  flirting  with  me,  stop  all  your  little  bedevil- 
ments;  and  you'll  find  out,  as  I  have,  that  love  is 
a  tragedy,  not  a  high  comedy,  and  you  will  come 
to  me  'reverently,  soberly,  discreetly,  advisedly, 
and  in  the  fear  of  God,'  and  you  will  give  yourself 
to  me.  I  dare  say  you'll  refuse  me  a  few  more 
times  in  the  interval,  but  you  are  coming  just  the 
same — some  day." 

Such  assumption  had  to  be  punished  and 
promptly,  and  Adele  arose  and  said  coldly: 

"And  wither  forever  the  life  happiness  of  that 
beautiful  girl  with  Etruscan  gold  eyelashes? 
Never!" 

"What  kind  of  a  girl?    Who?" 

"The  gorgeous  creature  who  so  absorbed  you 
the  last  time  you  were  in  Nagasaki.  Glorious 
azure  orbs  (two,  if  I  mistake  not),  a  covert " 

"A  what?"  he  cried,  joyous  at  this  first  glimpse 
of  Cupid's  avant-courier — jealousy. 

"Tan  covert  thing — half  fitting — with  straps — 
a  dream!  Oh,  Dora  told  me.  You  dare  not 
deny  it  I" 

"She  hid  this  covert  thing  well;  I  never  saw  it — 
I  don't  even  know  what  it  is.  What  an  absurd 
girl  you  are!  Don't  you  know  who  that  was  I 

118 


UNDER    THE    CAMPHOR-TREES 

took  ashore  that  day  and  kowtowed  to?  All  the 
time  my  head  full  of  another  who  didn't  care  to 
see  me,  worse  luck!" 

"I  have  absolutely  no  curiosity  about  her,  Doc- 
tor Robb,"  replied  the  girl,  opening  her  parasol 
and  holding  it  at  the  angle  she  had  discovered 
most  aggravated  the  masculine  heart. 

"The  admiral's  wife!  Daughter  of  the  late 
secretary — all  sorts  of  honorable  things.  Yes,  in- 
deed, and  I  made  myself  solid  that  day,  I  tell  you, 
over  tortoise-shell  hair-pins,  for  which  her  soul 
thirsted." 

Adele  put  back  her  parasol,  as  she  walked  beside 
him,  and  smiled  up  in  his  face,  and  said  with  the 
inflection  of  five  tender  years: 

"I  like  you!"  He  looked  away,  and  put  his 
hands  into  his  pockets. 

They  stood  a  moment  at  the  top  of  the  long 
flight  of  stone  steps,  dotted  here  and  there  with 
bright  baby-life. 

As  she  looked  out  over  the  town,  her  face  fell, 
and  she  murmured: 

"I  have  been  so  happy  for  a  little  while  up 
here." 

"With  me?"  he  coaxed. 

"With  you,"  she  said  softly,  and  then  together 
119 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

they  started  down  the  great  stone  stairway  between 
the  temple  lamps.  Presently  she  swept  him  a 
curtsy  and  a  roguish  smile,  and  gave  him  the  tips 
of  her  fingers,  and  he  caught  her  meaning,  and  in 
cadence,  laughing  into  each  other's  eyes,  the  re- 
mainder of  the  long  descent  was  turned  into  a  sort 
of  stately  minuet.  And  the  little  native  children 
stood  and  stared  at  this  new  antic  of  those  ever- 
absurd  ijin  san. 

At  the  bottom  he  put  her  into  her  jinrikisha, 
arranged  hurriedly  to  meet  her  at  Sato's  the  next 
day,  and  they  separated. 

As  she  passed  the  Italian  doctor's  house  on  her 
way  home,  Captain  Pehoe  came  out  of  it,  jumped 
hastily  into  a  jinrikisha  and  dashed  toward  the 
Bund. 


120 


CHAPTER    VII 

KENT   GOES   DOWN   TO   HIS  JUDGMENT 

"  No,  when  the  fight  begins  within  himself, 

A  man's  worth  something.      God  stoops  o'er  his  head." 

AT  the  end  of  three  days  Kent  came  out  of 
the  wilderness,  and  took  up  his  life  once 
more — broken,  speechless,  pitiful. 

Jack  made  it  a  point  to  be  on  hand  to  help  Dell 
carry  the  dinner  through,  for  Dora's  sake.  After- 
ward the  two  men  went  to  the  summer-house 
with  their  cigars.  It  was  a  hot  night;  the  intense 
humidity  which  foreruns  a  typhoon  saturated  the 
air.  A  large  native  paper  lantern  swung  above 
them,  dyeing  their  white  duck  uniforms  pink,  and 
furnishing  enough  light  for  each  man  to  watch  the 
brief  eccentric  life  of  his  own  cigar,  individual- 
ized from  any  other  one  ever  rolled  into  being. 
After  a  long  silence,  for  which  each  was  deeply 
grateful  to  the  other,  Kent  cried  suddenly: 

"I'd  rather  put  a  bullet  through  my  head  than 
go  on  with  it!" 

121 


PEACE   AND    THE   VICES 

"Of  course;  anyone  would,  but  it  wouldn't  be 
quite  so — manly,  do  you  think,  Fellowes?" 

"Oh!  I'm  not  going  to.  And  I'll  spare  you 
even  verbal  heroics.  The  smugness  of  a  slaked 
desire,  the  easy  repentance  of  satiety  (curs  at 
best!),  are  a  little  less  contemptible  if  they  don't 
bark.  If  you  don't  know  what  I  feel,  after  all 
these  years,  no  amount  of  talk  will  help." 

"You're  dead  right!  I've  never  been  able  to 
get  at  the  enormous  stress  the  churches  lay  upon 
mere  chin  repentance.  Repentance  ought  to  act  or 
— shut  up !" 

Another  silence,  and  Fellowes  again  spoke: 

"Jack,  I  shall  report  on  board  ship  to-morrow 
morning." 

"Good!" 

"I've  got  something  worse  than  that  to  face; 
something  that " 

"O  Lord!"  groaned  Talty,  following  begrudg- 
ingly  a  nimble  imagination. 

"I  mean  Dora.  I  have  not  dared  tell  her 
that  I  shall  at  once  be  put  under  arrest  on  the  ship, 
and  not  see  her  again  till — the  end.  I  have  put 
it  off  day  after  day;  I  cannot  do  it!  It  will  be  as 
if  I  were  to  take  that  dear  sweet  face — God  in 
heaven,  man,  she  still  smiles  at  me! — and  batter 

122 


KENT    GOES    DOWN    TO    HIS    JUDGMENT 

it  in  with  my  fist.  That  wonderful  wife  of  mine 
to  be  dragged  down  into  the  mire  of  the  level  I 
have  came  to!" 

Whatever  Talty  thought,  he  said: 

"Your  soul  is  as  clean  as  Sunday-morning  decks, 
Kent.  There's  some  confounded  hitch  in  your 
digestion.  We'll  find  the  remedy  some  day,  old 
man,  I  have  not  the  least  doubt." 

The  other  man's  bare  quivering  nerves  felt  the 
healing  of  Jack's  hearty  tone,  the  great  under- 
lying kindness  and  forbearance  in  what  was  left 
unsaid. 

Suddenly  he  burst  out  with: 

"Why  should  I  be  given  such  a  wife?  such  a 
friend?" 

"We  Taltys  are  no  fools,  Mr.  Fellowes — al- 
though some  of  us  look  it — you're  a  blasted  nui- 
sance, I  admit — but  you  are  worth  all  we  give  you, 
that's  why  1" 

And  the  other  gave  a  little  broken  laugh,  and 
could  not  speak  for  awhile,  and  his  cigar  went  out. 

"I  shall  make  no  defence,  Talty;  just  tell  the 
whole  beastly  truth  and  have  it  over.  And  start 
in  on  sixty  dollars  a  month  somewhere!" 

"  'Sixty  dollars  a  month!'  The  infernal  con- 
ceit of  some  men !  'Sixty  dollars  a' — do  you  sup- 

123 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

pose  people  are  going  to  fling  wealth  at  you  be- 
cause you've  got  a  Greek  profile!  Don't  be  any 
more  of  an  ass  than  you  can  help,  Fellowes.  You'll 
keep  your  present  job,  the  one  you  are  built  for. 
You'll  get  the  best  defence  we  can  get  hold  of, 
and  you'll  fight  every  inch  of  the  way  1  The  proof 
is  up  to  them.  If  it  was  a  wretched  orgy  in  a  wife's 
absence  I'd  be  bowwowed  if  I'd  lift  a  finger,  but 
I  know  better,  Dora  knows  better,  everyone 
does." 

"I  refuse,  utterly.  It  is  not  honest.  I  am  guilty, 
I  deserve  all  they  will  give  me.  I  refuse !" 

Fellowes  sprang  to  his  feet  and  started  down 
the  two  steps  of  the  summer-house.  Jack  said, 
very  gravely: 

"My  answer  to  all  that,  Kent,  is  one  word — 
Dora." 

His  companion  sank  down  suddenly  where  he 
was,  as  if  struck,  and  Jack  finished  his  cigar,  and 
waited  a  long  time,  watching  the  other's  relaxed 
figure  and  bowed  head.  Then  Fellowes  slowly 
arose,  and  with  his  eyes  on  the  black  shadow  of 
the  lone  pine  overhanging  his  home,  he  said  very 
quietly:  "You  are  right,"  and  started  across  the 
silent  compound  toward  the  house.  As  he  did 
so,  Dell's  voice  swelled  out  into  the  night  like  an 

124 


incense,  singing  after  many  days  of  silence,  finally 
yielding  to  Dora's  entreaty. 

"  «  Songe  a  1' adieu  supreme, 
Tant  que  mon  cceur  battra 
Toujours  il  te  dira 
Rappelle  toi ! '  " 

That  evening  Kent  kept  silence,  that  his  wife 
might  have  the  long  refreshing  sleep  that  always 
came  to  her  after  he  had  emerged  from  his  de- 
mentia. And  as  she  slept  he  watched,  his  soul 
clinging  to  her  like  a  punished  child,  craving  affec- 
tion without  desert. 

In  the  morning,  after  Talty  had  gone  back  to 
the  "Boston,"  Kent  told  Dora  of  the  arrest  and 
court-martial  that  would  follow  his  return  to  the 
ship. 

After  the  first  great  cry  of  uncontrollable  an- 
guish, she  turned  from  him  and  rushed  blindly 
back  and  forth  about  the  room,  wildly  gesticu- 
lating, striking  her  breast  roughly  with  her  clinched 
fist — mad  with  suffering.  After  a  desperate  moral 
wound,  as  after  a  physical,  the  body  seeks  the  re- 
lief of  violent  movement;  perhaps  the  survival  of 
that  primal  instinct  that  sought  frantically  to  expel 
the  embedded  arrow. 

125 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

He  sat  watching  her  with  miserable  eyes,  put- 
ting out  his  hand  humbly  in  dumb  entreaty,  when- 
ever she  passed  him. 

By  and  by  her  steps  began  to  falter,  her  arms  fell, 
she  stood  still,  and  turning  she  saw  him  for  the 
first  time,  so  completely  do  life's  crises  isolate.  Sit- 
ting there,  bent,  broken,  disparate  by  his  own  mis- 
erable wrong-doing — slowly  there  arose  within  her 
this  question:  "In  what  way  is  this  one  defection 
of  his  different  from  all  the  others,  through  which 
I  have  not  swerved  in  my  devotion  ?  Only  in  this : 
for  the  first  time  he  is  facing  just  punishment!" 
It  was  her  pride  then  that  was  in  rebellion,  not  her 
principle,  not  her  love.  More  than  ever  her  place 
was  beside  him,  not  aloof.  Never  had  he  been 
in  such  desperate  need  of  her.  There  was  a  short 
struggle  more,  and  then  she  went  to  him,  and  put 
her  arms  about  him  and  drew  his  head  back  against 
her  breast  and  held  it  there,  whispering  over  and 
over  the  foolish  words  sacred  to  their  little  love- 
story.  And  after  that,  the  mere  impetus  of  all 
strong  emotion  once  started,  helped  her.  He 
clung  to  her  in  an  agony  of  relief  and  gratitude. 
All  lesser  evils  he  could  confront,  if  her  love  were 
still  his — preserved  to  them  both  by  her  action 
that  morning. 

126 


KENT    GOES    DOWN    TO    HIS    JUDGMENT 

The  last  words  she  said  to  him  as  he  was  leaving 
were: 

"Fight,  my  darling!  Fight  for  your  sword — 
if  not  this  time  with  it — for  my  sake,  and  Julie's, 
and  your  own,"  and  she  smiled,  to  put  a  little  heart 
into  him. 

The  final  glimpse  he  had  of  her,  as  he  went  out 
of  the  gate  and  turned  an  agonized  glance  back- 
ward was,  strangely,  the  one  he  had  pictured  should 
be  the  first,  when  he  came:  the  wife  standing  on 
the  sun-flecked  lawn  waving  her  hand  to  him ;  be- 
side her  the  baby  (both  in  white),  imitating  every 
motion  of  her  mother's,  looking  from  one  to  the 
other  with  quick  motions  of  her  pretty  head,  that 
sent  the  curls  whirling  about  each  time,  in  a  golden 
arc. 

And  so  Kent  went  down  the  hill  to  his  judg- 
ment. 

Talty  had  found  on  his  desk  in  his  state-room, 
when  he  went  off  to  the  ship  that  morning,  a  letter 
from  Imogen — the  first  since  Dora  left  her.  The 
contents  severed  once  more  the  oft-repaired  fila- 
ments that  his  stanch  nature  had  spun  again  and 
again  across  the  ever-widening  space  between  their 
two  natures. 

Every  sentence  contained  its  separate  drop  of 
127 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

the  poison  of  spite,  vulgarity,  chagrin,  and  selfish- 
ness, and  yet  real  longing  for  the  man's  love,  which 
she  had  forever  lost.  It  began  abruptly:  "The 
admiral's  wife,  who  has  the  next  room  to  mine  at 
this  horrible  hotel,  got  a  letter  this  morning,  from 
Mr.  Sault  of  the  'Boston'  (he  was  one  of  her 
proteges  when  he  was  a  cadet),  and  you  can  imag- 
ine my  horror  and  mortification  when  she  told  me 
this  dreadful  news  about  Kent  Fellowes!  Such 
a  perfectly  disgusting  thing  to  happen!  He  al- 
ways did  seem  such  a  gentleman,  although  as  queer 
as  Paddy's  hat.  It's  the  climate  out  here — I've  al- 
ways told  you !  I  dare  say  you'll  go  off  next,  and 
lose  yourself.  All  I  can  say  is,  you'll  stay  lost  for 
all  me !  I  can  at  least  have  the  satisfaction  of  know- 
ing I  tried  to  stay  near  you,  as  a  moral  help.  If 
disaster  comes,  it's  your  own  fault,  not  mine.  Mr. 
Sault  says  a  court  will  be  ordered;  he  also  hinted 
that  it  was  an  old  story  with  Kent  Fellowes — that, 
of  course,  I  was  able  to  flatly  contradict.  If  he's 
dismissed  for  this,  he'll  go  straight  to  the  dogs, 
of  course,  and  I  do  hope  Dora  will  have  pride 
enough,  character  enough,  to  take  Julie  and  leave 
him.  Dora  is  a  very  weak,  although  sweet-tem- 
pered, woman  (which  I  can't  say  of  all  the  Taltys 
I've  had  the  honor  of  meeting) ,  and  I'm  so  afraid 

128 


KENT  GOES  DOWN  TO  HIS  JUDGMENT 

she  will  do  something  silly,  which  will  spoil  her 
whole  future.  Thank  goodness,  I'm  made  of 
stronger  stuff,  so  there's  no  use  trying  any  matri- 
monial experiments  on  me! 

"I  must  say  I'm  more  than  ever  glad  that 
I  obeyed  the  voice  of  self-respect,  and  remained 
away  from  all  that  vulgar  mess  you  Taltys  seem 
to  have  got  yourselves  into.  Mrs.  Titterington 
keeps  very  much  to  herself,  I  must  say,  but  she's 
awful  nice  when  I  do  see  her — only  I  don't  like 
the  way  she  dresses — you  can't  see  her  for  clothes 
during  the  day,  and  you  can't  see  the  clothes  for 
her  at  night !  And  Mrs.  Santley  and  I  both  think 
she  does  something  to  her  hair.  The  funniest  part 
of  it  is  that  I  know  Mrs.  Santley  does !  And  she's 
forty,  if  she's  a  week — besides  having  an  affair 
with  the  Belgian  consul,  which  would  create  a 
scandal  anywhere  but  in  this  'Paris  of  the  Orient,' 
and  the  poor  old  chief  coming  up  from  the  'Alert' 
at  Woosung  every  four  days,  believing  as  firmly 
in  her  as  on  the  day  he  married  her.  The  Belgian 
has  got  on  to  the  swing  of  the  matrimonial  pendu- 
lum, so  all  goes  well — so  far!  Tell  Dora  if  she 
really  needs  me,  to  wire  and  I'll  come  over — but 
if  she  can  get  on  without  me  till  after  the  races, 
I'd  rather  come  then.  As  for  you,  I  have  nothing 

whatever  to  suggest." 

129 


PEACE   AND   THE   VICES 

Talty  had  not  known  how  hard  a  thing  a  youth- 
ful illusion  is  to  kill  until  he  read  this  letter  and 
realized  that,  after  all,  there  had  been  a  little  some- 
thing left  within  his  very  weary  heart,  with  life 
in  it;  and  yet  so  happily  was  this  man  constituted 
that  he  could  lean  back  in  his  chair  and  laugh  at 
his  wife's  irresistibly  dry  humor,  to  which  she  was 
so  strangely  unrelated. 

There  was  at  present  only  one  thing  to  do:  to 
reply  in  such  a  way  that  Imogen  would,  for  the 
present,  remain  in  Shanghai.  This  he  did  at  once, 
and  with  success. 

When  Lieutenant  Fellowes  went  over  the  side 
of  the  "Boston,"  the  officer  of  the  deck  was  his  old 
friend  Nugent. 

Fellowes,  saluting  him  stiffly,  reported:  "Re- 
turned on  board,  sir,"  and  passed  rapidly  aft 
toward  the  wardroom  ladder ;  his  face  very  white, 
his  blue  eyes  almost  black  with  the  super-excitation 
of  his  whole  being. 

The  officer  of  the  deck  turned  to  his  messenger: 

"Tell  the  orderly  to  report  to  the  captain  that 
Lieutenant  Fellowes  has  returned  on  board." 

Fellowes  went  directly  to  his  state-room,  drew 
the  curtain,  and  was  shifting  into  uniform,  when 
there  came  a  rap  on  his  door-frame. 

130 


KENT    GOES    DOWN    TO    HIS    JUDGMENT 

"Well,  what  Is  it?" 

"The  captain  wishes  to  see  you  in  the  cabin,  sir," 
replied  a  formal  military  voice  from  the  other  side 
of  the  curtain. 

"All  right.  Tell  the  captain  I'll  report  immedi- 
ately." 

A  few  moments  later,  at  the  cabin  door,  he  said 
to  the  marine  on  duty: 

"Report  my  name  to  the  captain,"  and  he  waited 
with  clinched  teeth  until  the  orderly  returned, 
saluted,  and  gave  the  captain's  message. 

Fellowes  entered  the  cabin.  It  was  a  purely 
official  room;  bare  of  all  photographs,  curios, 
Oriental  hangings,  or  even  flowers,  which  so  often 
transform  the  cabin  of  a  ship  into  a  haven  to  eyes 
an-hunger  for  home. 

Captain  Pehoe  was  a  tall,  sallow,  dark-browed 
man.  He  sat  at  his  desk  with  his  back  turned, 
writing,  when  Fellowes  entered  and  stood  in  si- 
lence. Those  prolonged  moments  of  studied  negli- 
gence stung  the  young  officer  like  a  lash  across  his 
face.  Finally  the  commanding  officer  turned 
slowly  about  in  his  revolving  chair,  and  said: 

"Well,  Lieutenant  Fellowes,  what  explanation 
have  you  to  make  for  your  absence?" 

"I  have  none,  sir." 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

"I  suppose  you  are  aware  of  the  gravity  of  your 
offence?" 

"I  fully  recognize  it,  sir." 

"Consider  yourself  under  suspension,  sir.  I 
shall  report  the  matter  to  the  commander-in-chief 
for  such  action  as  he  may  deem  proper.  I  think 
it  only  fair  to  warn  you  that  I  shall  prefer  charges 
against  you."  Fellowes  slowly  inclined  his  head. 

"Have  you  any  further  orders,  sir?" 

"No,  sir,"  and  the  captain  swung  back  to  his 
desk. 

After  Fellowes*  dismissal,  Captain  Pehoe 
pressed  his  bell,  and  upon  the  orderly's  appearance, 
commanded : 

"Tell  the  officer  of  the  deck  to  enter  in  the  log 
that  Lieutenant  Fellowes  is  under  suspension  to 
await  the  action  of  the  commander-in-chief," 
and  so  Dora's  secret  was  nailed  to  the  mast,  and 
left  flaunting  for  all  eyes  to  read. 

The  suspended  officer  returned  at  once  to  his 
state-room,  where  his  brother-in-law  soon  joined 
him,  and  remained  with  him  from  then  to  the  end, 
every  moment  his  own  duties  made  possible,  to 
emphasize  an  identity  of  interest  in  every  way  his 
generous  heart  could  devise. 

Fellowes  had  always  been  an  officer  universally 
132 


KENT    GOES    DOWN    TO   HIS    JUDGMENT 

respected  for  his  professional  enthusiasm  and  de- 
votion, and  for  his  impeccable  good-breeding, 
which  counts  for  so  much  in  the  close  vicinage  of 
wardroom  life.  His  was  not  the  nature  to  com- 
mand the  great  popularity  and  warm  affection  that 
ran  out  so  easily  to  Talty;  ashore,  from  one  end 
of  the  service  to  the  other;  and  afloat,  from  the 
cabin  to  the  forecastle. 

But  Kent  had  his  few  friends  who  never  swerved 
in  their  faith  in  him  as  an  officer,  held  too  long  for 
his  own  good,  in  the  leash  of  circumstances. 

At  the  noon  breakfast  in  the  wardroom  an  un- 
premeditated, halting,  but  sincere  effort  was  made 
to  draw  the  suspended  officer  into  the  general  con- 
versation, and  relieve  the  painful  tension  of  his 
thin  white  face,  and  before  the  meal  was  over, 
Talty  was  thankful  to  see  it  had  obviously  relaxed. 
His  heart  glowed  with  gratitude  toward  his  ship- 
mates. When  a  soldier  gets  his  bullet,  the  men 
beside  him  in  the  ranks,  in  all  the  murk  and  roar, 
are  none  the  worse  soldiers  for  dragging  the 
stricken  one  apart  and  lowering  him  gently  to  the 
ground. 

Three  days  after  Captain  Pehoe's  report  on  Fel- 
lowes'  case  had  reached  the  admiral  at  Shanghai, 
the  flag-ship  arrived  in  Nagasaki.  And  two  hours 

133 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

later  the  "Alert"  followed,  to  help  furnish  the  re- 
quired quota  of  seven  officers  ranking  Lieutenant 
Fellowes,  necessary  to  form  a  court,  should  one  be 
ordered  by  the  commander-in-chief,  after  further 
inquiry  into  Pehoe's  charges. 

As  the  American  flag-ship  was  approaching  her 
anchorage,  the  clear  notes  of  the  "Boston's"  bugle 
rang  out  over  the  bay,  calling  away  the  gig.  Cap- 
tain Pehoe  lost  no  time  in  taking  his  place  alone  in 
the  stern-sheets,  and  giving  the  order  to  shove  off. 
The  men  gave  way  together,  steering  for  the  flag- 
ship, the  "coach-whip,"  denoting  an  official  visit, 
fluttering  from  the  bow-staff,  on  a  line  with  the 
captain's  black  brows. 

As  soon  as  he  was  announced  on  the  flag-ship, 
Pehoe  went  to  the  admiral's  cabin.  It  was  a  suite 
of  rooms  vivid  with  that  daring  Oriental  scheme 
of  colors  which  never  clashes.  Brocades,  embroid- 
ered hangings,  pillows  from  every  port  in  the  East; 
a  huge  "hawthorne"  vase  from  Canton;  Benares 
brasses;  ivories  from  Colombo;  precious  old 
monkey  kakemonos  from  Kioto  (thought,  by  the 
admiral  at  least,  to  be  the  work  of  Sosen  himself)  ; 
mon  fitkusas,  blue,  with  golden  eyes;  potted  palms 
and  plants;  and  photographs  everywhere  bespoke 
the  soul  gregarious. 

134 


KENT    GOES    DOWN    TO    HIS    JUDGMENT 

Over  the  admiral's  desk,  bristling  with  papers, 
was  a  large  water-color  of  his  beautiful  young  wife. 
The  mahogany  case  enthroning  the  ship's  silver 
punch-bowl  and  candelabra,  presented  by  the  city 
whose  name  she  bore,  challenged  attention  close 
by  the  door.  Captain  Pehoe  felt  physically  cold 
and  nauseated  with  repulsion.  There  was  as  great 
a  psychical  difference  as  physical  between  the  two 
men.  A  perfect  digestion,  a  persistent  cheerful- 
ness, a  very  kind  heart,  had  preserved  to  the  ad- 
miral perennial  youth.  He  was  a  large  man, 
rotund  of  figure,  boyish  blue  eyes,  a  ruddy  color 
in  his  cheeks,  and  abundance  of  silvery  white  hair. 
A  heavy  mustache,  worn  Prussian  fashion,  gave 
him  the  air  of  a  military  fop,  abetted  by  an  im- 
maculate uniform,  every  ornament  of  which  shone 
brilliantly.  His  speech  and  movements  were  free 
from  the  lethargy  of  age. 

After  the  ordinary  greetings  between  the  two 
officers,  the  admiral  went  to  his  desk  and  withdrew 
from  a  pigeon-hole  a  large  official  paper,  and  said 
briskly : 

"See  here,  Pehoe,  do  you  insist  on  pressing  these 
charges  against  Lieutenant  Fellowes?  You  know 
what  a  remarkably  fine  officer  he  is.  Sit  down, 
sit  down-" 

135 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

A  look  of  intense  irritation  passed  over  the  cap- 
tain's face. 

"Admiral,  a  drunkard  has  less  right  to  be  in  our 
service  than  in  any  profession  on  earth." 

"You  forget  the  Church,  Captain,"  suggested 
the  admiral  slyly. 

"Pardon  me,  sir,  I  do  not.  That  is  a  mission, 
an  inspiration,  a  consecration,  not  a  profession!" 

"Quite  so,  quite  so!"  cried  the  admiral,  nervous- 
ly beginning  to  finger  his  bell,  and  then  recalling 
himself  with  a  jerk. 

"As  I  ask  only  for  justice  myself,  Admiral,  I 
give  only  justice,"  announced  the  man  of  poor 
circulation. 

"Now,  do  you  know,  Pehoe,  I'm  putting  all  my 
pile  on  mercy?  You  may  be  able  to  bluff  it  on 
justice,  I  confess  I  don't  dare!"  cried  gayly  the 
man  of  perfect  digestion,  deeply  regretting  that 
no  one  was  there  to  hear  him  badger  "old 
Pehoe." 

"I  respectfully  submit,  sir,  that  Lieutenant  Fel- 
lowes  should  be  court-martialed,"  Pehoe's  voice 
was  as  near  a  sneer  as  he  dared  venture.  A  quick 
flash  of  temper  darted  from  Admiral  Tittering- 
ton's  eyes;  it  was  his  privilege  to  steer  the  con- 
versation in  that  cabin,  his  alone!  But  after  a 

136 


KENT    GOES    DOWN    TO    HIS    JUDGMENT 

moment's    silence    the    handsome    autocrat    said 
quietly,  stroking  his  white  mustache: 

"It's  his  first  offence,  Captain  Pehoe.  I  have 
seen  lives  snuffed  out  by  harshness.  If  you  had 
been  willing,  I  was  rather  inclined  to  let  it  go  with 
a  very  severe  reprimand — and  keeping  it  in  the 
squadron — under  the  circumstances." 

The  particular  circumstance  through  which  the 
admiral  viewed  the  case  happened  to  be  the  pretty 
pleading  of  his  wife  the  night  he  left  Shanghai, 
when  she  begged  for  all  the  leniency  possible  for 
the  man  whose  sweet-faced  wife  she  had  met 
one  afternoon  in  Nagasaki.  The  admiral  found 
nothing  in  life  as  difficult  as  to  say  nay  to  that 
wayward,  much-petted  wife  of  his,  accustomed  to 
having  every  mood  taken  seriously,  every  wish  an« 
ticipated,  always  victorious  because  assuming  blind- 
ness to  the  possibility  of  defeat. 

If  Captain  Pehoe  had  had  the  faintest  inkling 
of  anything  so  shamelessly  uxorious,  his  manner 
would  have  indicated,  even  more  plainly  than  it 
did,  his  low  estimate  of  the  admiral's  ethics.  As 
it  was  he  said  stiffly : 

"It  seems  to  me,  Admiral,  there  is  no  surer  guar- 
antee for  a  second  offence  than  to  be  lenient  with 
a  first." 

137 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

"Not  always,  not  always,"  mused  the  admiral. 
There  was  a  short  pause,  and  then  he  added 
quickly : 

"Well,  Captain,  of  course  if  you  insist,  I  shall  be 
compelled  to  order  a  general  court,  much  as  I  re- 
gret the  necessity  for  it.  My  time  is  up  in  a  few 
months,  it's  been  a  happy  cruise,  I'm  deeply  sorry 
for  this,"  he  added  a  little  sadly.  His  use  of  the 
word  "happy"  was  sheer  blasphemy  to  the  ears 
of  the  younger  man,  but  he  held  his  peace  and 
listened : 

"But  you  know,  Captain  Pehoe,  how  very  diffi- 
cult it  is  to  prove  drunkenness;  and  one  thing 
strikes  me  in  this  report  of  yours:  no  one  from 
your  ship  saw  Fellowes  in  this  condition.  What 
evidence  have  you?" 

"He  was  attended  by  a  resident  physician  here, 
sir.  An  Italian  (or,  as  he  put  it,  three-quarters 
Italian,  and  one-half  French ! ) ;  I  went  to  see 
him  and  I  have  persuaded  him,  with  difficulty,  to 
consent  to  testify  before  the  court.  He  tells  me 
that  Lieutenant  Fellowes,  during  his  absence,  was 
suffering  from  acute  alcoholism." 

The  admiral's  lips  pursed  themselves  for  a 
whistle,  and  then  meeting  the  other's  eye  aban- 
doned it,  knowing  full  well  that  this  man  ac- 

138 


KENT    GOES    DOWN    TO   HIS    JUDGMENT 

corded  him  no  appreciable  specific  gravity  what- 
ever. 

"Well,  that  will  be  evidence  sufficient  to  convict. 
I  will  order  the  court  to  meet  within  a  few  days. 
Sit  down,  Pehoe;  what's  the  rush?  I've  got  a 
little  liqueur  Scotch  here,  the  colonel  of  those  Fusi- 
lier fellows  gave  me  in  Hong  Kong,  I'd  like  you 
to  try  it.  I  never  saw  anything  to  touch  it  my- 
self. It  disenfranchises  a  man  of  sixty  in  ten  min- 
utes, by  Jove!  What's  that  you  say?  Oh!  that's 
one  on  me!  Beg  pardon,  Pehoe,  I  quite  forgot 
you  do  not  drink.  Of  course,  of  course.  I  do,  a 
little  now  and  then  myself,  because — well,  because 
I  haven't  any  reason  not  to.  Some  men  have  a 
reason.  I  quite  understand.  Good-morning,  good- 
morning,  sir,"  and  then  the  admiral  leaned  back 
and  chuckled  to  himself. 


139 


CHAPTER    VIII 

TOO    MANY   CHAPERONES 

"  To  be  wise  and  love 
Exceeds  man's  might." 

"  "TV  J"  AMMY,  for  gracious  sake,  take  this  hat 
-L  T  JL  away  and  bury  it  deep  in  the  garden ! 
In  a  shady  noisome  corner,  please,  where  it's  not 
likely  to  take  root.  I  think  without  a  single  ex- 
ception I'm  the  most  hideous-looking  girl  on  earth 
to-day !  Some  days  I'm  not  so  bad — but  to-day  I 
look  like  a  barmaid  of  thirty-eight  thirsty  sum- 
mers. Mammy,  come  here,  when  I  speak  to  you  I 
Now  stand  still — not  there — right  here  I  Now, 
tell  me  on  your  word  of  honor,  S.  Carolina,  does 
it  positively  sicken  you  to  look  at  me  in  this  hat?" 

"Toe  tell  yer  de  plain  troof,  Miss  Dell,  I  ain' 
feelin'  fus'  rate  to-day!"  said  Mammy  roguishly, 
and  Dell  flew  at  her  and  shook  her,  till  every  tooth 
in  her  black  face  showed  in  one  great  grin  of  de- 
light. 

Then  the  girl  sat  down  breathless,  professing  a 
140 


TOO    MANY    CHAPERONES 

marked  relief.  She  was  again  seated  in  front  of 
the  mirror,  close  beside  which  were  two  chairs, 
piled  with  all  of  her  hats  and  some  of  her  sister's. 
She  slapped  one  after  another  viciously  down  upon 
her  now  dishevelled  head,  removing  each  with  a 
louder  groan  of  growing  discontent. 

"Why  is  it,  Mammy,  that  there  are  days  when 
one  looks  like  the  very  mischief,  and  nothing  suits? 
And  days  when  one  looks  perfectly  dear  in  any  old 
rag  of  a  thing?" 

"I'se  come  ter  de  'elusion,  Miss  Dell,  it  all  do- 
pends  on  de  eyes  we's  a  dressin'  fur,"  and  Mammy 
looked  the  picture  of  belated  innocence,  smooth- 
ing down  her  kerchief  over  her  ample  bosom.  The 
answer  was  a  discarded  hat  aimed  at  the  turbaned 
head,  which  Mammy  deftly  caught  and  replaced 
upon  the  dressing-table,  with  a  low  gurgle  of 
laughter. 

"I  won't  wear  any  I  It's  very  smart  not  to — I'll 
be  smart,  for  a  change,"  announced  Dell,  spring- 
ing to  her  feet.  But  Mammy  became  serious 
at  once,  and  scolded,  oblivious  of  Miss  Talty's 
twenty  years. 

"  'Smart!'  Dere  ain'  nuffin'  smart  'bout  gwine 
out'n  de  do',  in  de  bro-o-rd  daylight,  widout'n  a 
hat  on  de  haid!  No'm,  dere  ain'.  It's  bold  an' 

141 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

it's  sassy!  Young  ladies  ain'  got  no  gumption 
now'days,  actin'  like  a  passel  ob  boys!  I  ain' 
s'prised  de  cer'mony  ob  matrimony  are  gettin'  mo' 
an'  mo'  onpop'lar  eb'ry  y'ar  I  Dat's  so,  Miss  Dell ! 
no  use  yer  pokin'  fun  at  yer  ole  Mammy.  Come 
heah,  miss,  an'  'have  yo'self!  Set  right  down, 
an'  mek  up  yo'  min'  ter  wear  one  ob  dese  yere! 
An',  honey,  jes'  ter  please  yer  ole  nigger  Mammy, 
lemme  tie  on  one  er  dose  sorf '  purty  white  veils  dat 
look  so  sweet  an'  ladylike!  Please,  Miss  Dell!" 

Dell  yielded  to  the  coaxing  voice,  partly  because 
it  merely  indorsed  her  own  old-fashioned  preju- 
dices, and  selecting  a  simple  straw  hat  trimmed 
with  white  mulle,  she  skewered  it  on.  Then,  to 
the  old  servant's  unfeigned  joy,  she  tied  over  all 
a  veil  of  thinnest  white  tulle. 

Following  a  mental  carom  of  her  own,  Mammy 
said  abruptly,  with  dancing  eyes : 

"I  dunno  if  you  rightly  'member  a  gent'man 
who  use'  ter  visit  we-all  in  Washington,  Miss  Dell? 
His  name  was — now,  I  had  dat  name  all  right 
minute  ago!  Oh,  yes!  Doctor  Robb.  'Member 
him,  missy?" 

"I  recall,  dimly,  such  a  person.  Go  on  with 
your  fairy  story,"  replied  a  very  haughty  young 
lady,  absorbed  in  white  castor  gloves. 

142 


TOO    MANY    CHAPERONES 

"Well,  one  day  he  up  an'  he  says  de  mos'  curious- 
est  thing  ter  me.  I  wan'  ter  arsk  yer  'bout  it,  Miss 
Dell,  'fo'  I  done  fo'get  all  'bout  it.  He  says: 
'Mammy,  you're  great' — jes'  like  dat!  Yes'm,  he 
did!  An'  den  he  says:  'If  you'd  a  been  French, 
an'  not  a  nigger,  you'd  er  kep'  a  very  pop'lar 
saloon !'  Yes'm,  he  sutney  did !  An'  yet  de  doctor 
he's  jes'  de  mos'  puffeckest  gent'man  I  ever  did 
see  since  yo'  pa  died!" 

Even  Dora's  sad  heart  responded  to  the  glad 
young  laugh  that  rang  through  the  silent  bunga- 
low. But  Dell  went  instantly  to  her  sister  in  con- 
trition, and  did  not  leave  her  side  until  she  had 
brought  the  old  sweet  smile  back  upon  her  stricken 
face,  turned  always  toward  the  harbor  and  its  ever- 
changing  colony  of  ships. 

Then  the  bell  rang  and  Dell's  face  flamed  into 
a  sudden  blaze,  her  eyes  fiercely  challenging  com- 
ment meanwhile. 

Dora  looked  up,  then  down  at  the  sewing 
lying  in  her  lap,  and  asked  demurely : 

"Going  on  a  poster-hunt,  dear?" 

"No-o,  not  to-day.  I'm  going  up  on  the  ridge, 
where  one  gets  a  view  of  the  other  side  of  things." 

"Don't  go  so  far  alone;  take  Mammy." 

"I  shall  not  need  Mammy." 
143 


PEACE   AND   THE   VICES 

"Oh  1  Well,  bring  him  back  to  dinner.  I  mean 
it,  Dell,  really.  Of  course  I  could  not  see  anyone 
else — just  now — but  somehow  a  doctor  always  un- 
derstands things." 

*  'Him?  Doctor?'  who  under  the  canopy  are 
you  talking  about,  Dora  Fellowes?" 

"I  couldn't  tell  you  why  to  save  me,  Dell,  but 
I  suddenly  thought  of  Leigh  Robb." 

"Well,  I  should  think  you  couldn't  1"  exclaimed 
the  other,  then  she  stooped  and  caressed  her  sister, 
whispering:  "Are  you  sure,  Dora,  dear,  you  do 
not  mind  my  leaving  you  for  a  little  while — per- 
fectly sure?  And  you  will  not  come  too?" 

Just  then  Julie  burst  into  the  room,  and  pattered 
straight  to  her  mother's  arms,  chattering,  gurgling, 
panting,  with  a  breathless  amah  at  her  heels.  And 
the  young  mother  looked  up  smiling  and  said: 
"You  see?"  and  so  Dell  left  her;  going  forthwith 
to  the  drawing-room,  where  she  displayed  no  sur- 
prise upon  finding  Doctor  Robb  awaiting  her, 
looking  very  fresh,  and  boyish,  and  extremely 
cheerful.  They  started  out  at  once;  and  Dora 
hearing  the  gate  slam,  arose  and  watched  them 
from  her  window,  Mammy  peering  over  her 
shoulder,  and  when  the  two  without  had  disap- 
peared, the  two  within  exchanged  glances,  and 

144 


TOO    MANY    CHAPERONES 

shook  their  heads  smiling,  at  the  inexplicable  ways 
of  Miss  Adele  Talty. 

It  seemed  a  pity  after  all  the  long  haggling  at 
the  kuruma  stand  below  "Ippon  Matsu,"  and  the 
careful  selection  of  five  muscular  coolies,  that  they 
were  allowed  so  little  figure  in  the  expedition  of 
the  young  couple.  The  two  natives  whose  lot  it 
was  to  draw  the  lighter  burden  of  Miss  Talty's 
slight  form,  rejoiced  loudly  over  the  three  to 
whom  the  heavy  bulk  of  the  doctor  had  fallen; 
who  repaid  the  scorn  later,  with  interest.  For 
after  Robb  had  minutely  exploited  the  back  of 
Adele's  pretty  head  for  half  an  hour,  a  strong 
thirst  for  her  face  made  him  spring  impatiently 
out  of  his  jinrikisha  and  catch  up  with  hers;  where 
surcease  of  suffering  came  to  him,  tramping  beside 
her  with  his  hand  on  her  lacquered  wheel-guard. 
And  so  they  went  up  the  long  incline.  It  was 
now  the  turn  of  Robb's  coolies  to  jeer  and  trail 
along  with  uplifted  shafts,  watching  with  satisfac- 
tion their  brethren  ahead,  bent  to  their  task  and 
panting  rhythmically. 

After  once  attaining  the  joy  of  Dell's  profile, 
it  was  not  surprising  that  Robb's  jinrikisha-men 
continued  to  bless  their  good  luck,  and  when  they 
reached  the  summit,  they  felt  called  upon  to  stand 

145 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

treat  at  the  tea-house  for  their  dripping  compan- 
ions, congratulating  them  insolently  upon  their 
muscle,  feeling  their  legs  and  arms  with  long  in- 
drawn breaths  of  burlesque  admiration,  while  they 
waited  for  the  tea  and  tobacco-fcow. 

Walking  a  little  apart  from  the  clamor  at  the 
chaya,  Adele  and  the  doctor  stood  upon  a  knoll 
and  looked  off  across  the  deep  valley  to  the  volcanic 
pile  of  mountains  beyond,  the  sapphire  waters  of 
Shimabara  Gulf  on  the  right.  The  hot  humid  air 
came  in  puffs,  the  threatened  typhoon  having  sud- 
denly veered  off  to  sea,  leaving  only  the  taste  and 
smell  of  it  in  the  air  ashore — and  much  grati- 
tude. 

They  stood  looking  out  beside  each  other,  in 
the  silence  always  induced  by  great  depths,  great 
heights,  great  distances — vainly  struggling  after 
the  meaning  that  seems  hidden,  couchant,  waiting 
for  recognition.  One  feels  very  close  to  nature's 
secret  at  such  times,  and  eyes  look  their  longing 
to  surprise  it,  ears  listen  intently  for  the  pulse  of 
it,  the  soul  stretches  to  its  limit  in  the  effort  to 
grasp  it.  But  no  poet,  no  philosopher  that  ever 
lived  has  caught  more  than  a  symbolic  meaning 
in  nature — the  real  message,  unrelated  to  human- 
ity, remains  unread.  And  it  always  ends  with  a 

146 


TOO    MANY    CHAPERONES 

sigh,  a  turning  away,  a  reassertion  of  life's  old 
detail  with  which  we  must  go  on,  pretending  con- 
tentment. 

"It's  not  digestible — a  view  like  that,  is  it,  Doc- 
tor Robb?"  murmured  Dell. 

He  turned  to  her  with  an  expression  of  pleas- 
ure. 

"I  believe  our  minds  have  been  running  neck 
and  neck  over  the  same  course,  Miss  Adele.  You 
expressed  my  exact  thought  then.  Oh,  I  do  like 
that  so !  That  mental  kinship  between  a  man  and 
a  woman.  I  believe  the  world  is  divided,  in  some 
esoteric  fashion,  into  psychic  tribes ;  above  all  ques- 
tions of  blood,  language,  sex,  or  association.  One 
knows  it  instantly  on  meeting.  Hatred  is  a  tribal 
antagonism;  indifference,  tribal  incommunicable- 
ness.  I've  felt  it  strongly  with  a  woman  of  sixty, 
and  even  more  strongly  with  a  little  boy  of  five — 
both  chance  acquaintances.  We  looked  into  each 
other's  eyes  and  understood.  It's  one  of  the  things 
ahead  of  us,  I  suppose,  that  will  be  but  the  kinder- 
garten of  future  generations." 

"  'Oh!  but  the  long,  long  while  the  World  shall 
last!'"  she  murmured,  her  eyes  on  the  distant 
mountains,  and  he  suddenly  stooped  and  kissed  her 
hand,  and  then  turned  away  and  said  confusedly : 

'47 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

"I  couldn't  help  it.  I'll  be  good,  as  the  children 
say — but  you  are  such  a — such  a  satisfaction  to 
me  somehow!  Ridiculous,  isn't  it?" 

"Very,"  she  said  serenely. 

Then  the  young  officer  began  that  entirely  fruit- 
less search  in  Japan,  within  a  certain  radius  of  any 
village,  for  a  quiet  spot  to  sit  apart  from  either 
the  all-pervading  paddy-fields,  or  the  ubiquitous 
curiosity  of  infant  Japan.  After  much  looking 
about,  they  spied  a  little  island  of  trees  in  an  ocean 
of  "honorable  rice,"  and  taking  the  only  path 
vouchsafed  them,  they  walked  along  the  usual  tiny 
ridge  of  turf  between  the  highly  cultivated  patches 
of  the  sacred  grain. 

Under  the  largest  bamboo,  and  further  para- 
soled by  a  dark-leaved  camellia-bush,  the  doctor 
spread  a  red  jinrikisha  blanket  for  Adele  and  then 
he  sank  at  her  feet  with  a  great  sigh  of  content- 
ment. 

At  last  he  had  her  to  himself  for  one  holy  hour, 
insulated  from  all  other  influences;  the  mystery  of 
that  view  at  their  feet,  his  only  rival.  He  felt  for 
a  manuscript  in  his  breast,  withdrew  his  hand  and 
waited  for  the  right  moment.  To  get  her  thus 
apart  from  the  hungry  hordes  of  men  whom  his 
rather  bruised  imagination  always  pictured  clam- 

148 


TOO    MANY    CHAPERONES 

oring  for  a  glance  from  his  lady-love's  mischiev- 
ous eyes,  was  almost  too  perfect  a  thing  to  have 
happened — he  felt  a  sudden  suspicion  of  it,  alert 
for  disaster.  It  was  just  as  well,  for  it  came  in  the 
form  of  one  little  native  maid  picking  her  way  re- 
lentlessly toward  them  over  the  ridge  of  grass. 
Then  in  twos  and  threes  and  half-scores  the  chil- 
dren of  the  village  followed,  and  came  and  stood 
beside  the  Americans  and  gazed  upon  them  round- 
eyed,  silent,  unobtrusive;  but  for  all  purposes  of 
successful  courtship  of  a  difficult  young  woman 
with  a  rampant  sense  of  the  ridiculous,  absolutely 
fatal.  Twenty-six  little  imperturbable  chaperones 
and  others  shouting  shrilly  in  the  distance,  Adele 
was  safe  from  manuscripts  for  that  day,  and  the 
doctor's  heart  froze  with  disappointment  one  min- 
ute, and  blazed  with  fury  the  next.  Of  course  Dell, 
in  the  innocence  of  her  affectionate  heart,  began 
to  smile  and  talk  to  them,  in  face  of  the  doctor's 
vehement  protest.  The  children  clustered  closely, 
boys  came  flying  bare-legged  over  the  ribbons  of 
turf;  or  girls  more  sedately,  subdued  betimes  into 
a  joyless  vicarious  motherhood  under  the  burden 
of  fat  babies  asleep  strapped  to  their  backs,  in  all 
sorts  of  positions,  mostly  suggestive  of  instant 
strangulation.  This  last  phase  of  the  calamity  put 

149 


PEACE   AND   THE   VICES 

the  finishing  touches  to  the  doctor's  attack  of  irri- 
tability and  he  cried  in  helpless  wrath : 

"Stop  smiling  at  them!  of  course  they'll  hang 
on  like  grim  death,  who  wouldn't?" 

"Now  I  know  what  it  is  to  be  'the  cynosure,'  and 
do  you  know,  Doctor,  I  like  it  I" 

"Oh,  I  didn't  know.  Tell  me  when  you've  had 
enough,"  growled  he,  throwing  himself  flat  and 
burying  tortured  eyes. 

"Oh,  Doctor!  please  look  at  this  tiny  one  with 
the  red  tassel."  No  answer  came,  he  did  not 
stir. 

"I  have  my  opinion  of  a  man  who  has  no  place 
in  his  heart  for  dear  little  innocent  babies" — ap- 
parently this  man  had  none. 

There  was  a  pause,  and  then  in  a  plaintive  tone 
she  murmured: 

"All  right,  Doctor  Robb,  I  will  send  them  away. 
There  is  something  in  your  attitude  that  suggests 
discomfort — it  is  your  afternoon.  I'll  give  them 
a  few  sen  and  then  you  tell  them  to  go."  The 
doctor  was  on  his  feet  shouting: 

"Do  nothing  of  the  kind!"  but  it  was  too  late. 
The  coppers  had  fallen  into  the  little  brown 
hands,  and  high  staccato  cries  had  gone  forth  an- 
nouncing that  the  foreign  devils  were  paying 

150 


TOO    MANY    CHAPERONES 

money  for  nothing,  after  the  strange  way  they 
often  had  heard  about.  The  ridge  of  turf  sil- 
houetted a  frieze  of  flying  figures. 

"Now  please  send  them  off,  Doctor." 

"Oh,  yes!  send  them  away!  Sounds  simple, 
doesn't  it?  Now  watch  me  try!"  Gestures  and 
voice  were  indeed  tragic  as  he  yelled: 

"Piggi!  piggi-f  this  minute!  you  horrid  little 
heathens !  You  observe  how  quickly  they  piggi?" 
he  sneered  down  at  Dell  parenthetically. 

The  little  circle  moved  back  a  few  steps  to  give 
space  for  this  fascinating  impromptu  performance 
that  was  whiling  away,  so  pleasantly,  the  long  hot 
afternoon.  Again  cries  flew  from  throat  to  throat 
that  a  strolling  theatrical  foreign  troupe  was 
among  them,  and  not  only  free  as  their  own 
saru-mawashi  or  dai-kagura,  but  giving  money. 

"You  see  how  it  works?  Easiest  thing!  Watch 
'em  piggi — O  Lord!"  groaned  Robb,  and  Dell 
went  into  shrieks  of  laughter  which,  after  a  time, 
ended  in  a  thin  sort  of  whimper  from  sheer  weak- 
ness. This  somehow  struck  the  fancy  of  the  chil- 
dren, and  they  began  to  laugh  too,  inextinguish- 
ably, jumping  up  and  down  with  glee.  It  was 
the  best  performance  they  had  seen  in  many  a  long 
day,  away  up  there  in  their  little  mountain  home ! 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

Drawing  in  a  deep  breath,  once  more  the  doctor 
attacked  them  with  his  whole  vocabulary: 

"Now  then,  damatte,  mina  same  and  sore 
hayaku!  Mo  yorashii,  or  I'll  call  the  kebu,  jiki  nil 
Do  you  hear?  You'd  better  abunai,  you  little 
kitanai  nezumi!  Watakushi's  as  mad  as  a  hornet, 
by  jingo!  Piggif  sare!  yuke!  And — and  that's 
every  word  I  know  of  the  confounded  lingo  1"  he 
added,  sitting  down  and  wiping  his  dripping  face. 
And  the  others  were  in  hysterics,  Dell  leading  the 
chorus. 

Presently  he  turned  toward  his  faithless  com- 
panion and  remarked,  with  acerbity: 

"So  glad  you're  enjoying  the  afternoon,  Miss 
Talty." 

"Oh,  Doctor,  if  you  could  see  your  own  face ! 
I've  always  been  told  I  had  a  contagious  laugh, 
but  I  see  you're  immune."  Dell  wiped  her  eyes 
and  fanned  herself  with  his  straw  hat. 

He  turned  a  slow,  grieving  glance  upon  the 
faithful,  admiring  circle  hedging  them  in,  and  then 
said  gently: 

"If  you  knew  how  I've  thought  and  dreamed  of 
these  hours  you  gave  to  me!  It  is  maddening! 
If  it  was  something  I  could  rise  up  and  smite — 

but  these  little  scraps !     It's  the  very " 

152 


TOO    MANY    CHAPERONES 

"Yes,  it  is,"  she  hastily  interposed,  and  won  a 
rather  stiff -lipped  smile  from  her  forlorn  com- 
panion. 

And  then  they  arose  and  he  folded  up  the  blanket 
and  they  went  their  way  back  to  the  tea-house. 
The  audience  followed  and  hived  once  more  about 
them,  but  the  doctor's  spirit  was  broken.  To  pla- 
cate him,  Dell  proposed  walking  part  way  home 
down  the  long  hill,  and  he  sent  the  jinrikishas  on 
ahead,  telling  them  in  his  seaport  jargon  to  await 
them  at  the  second  tea-house. 

"Ah!  this  is  something  like!"  he  cried,  happy 
once  more,  as  they  started  away  together.  He  held 
over  her  head  his  large  green-lined  pongee  sun- 
umbrella,  thereby  winning  proximity.  She  darted 
right  and  left  plucking  wild  flowers  and  ferns 
along  the  banks  of  the  road,  bringing  them  to  him 
to  carry  for  her,  and  everything  she  did  was  perfect 
in  his  eyes. 

He  believed  strongly  that  if  this  state  of  siege 
at  "Ippon  Matsu"  continued  a  week  longer  (bar- 
ring out  all  men,  but  himself,  by  a  miracle),  he 
would  succeed  in  so  surrounding  her  with  his  love 
that  the  habit  of  looking  to  him  for  the  dangerous 
joy  of  being  beloved  would  be  formed,  and  work 
eventually  in  his  favor.  If  that  week  (however 

153 


PEACE   AND    THE   VICES 

full  of  agony  to  others)  did  not  crown  his  life  with 
happiness,  he  should,  to  the  end  of  his  days,  feel 
that  he  had  not  deserved  it. 

But  fortune  was  in  a  spiteful  mood  that  day, 
and  bent  on  knotting  threads. 

The  doctor  had  spied  high  up,  growing  appar- 
ently out  of  bare  rocks,  a  tiny  clump  of  ferns  and 
climbed  after  them,  returning  to  find  Adele  sailing 
along  far  down  the  road,  beside  her  a  tall,  heavily 
built  man,  who  had  evidently  just  descended  from 
his  private  jinrikisha  which  was  following  empty, 
at  his  heels;  also  three  coolies  in  dark-blue  livery 
indicating  a  foreign  resident  of  some  consequence. 

The  brief  ejaculation  that  fell  from  Stoneleigh 
Robb's  lips  contained  at  least  the  vocabulary  of  a 
prayer,  if  not  the  spirit.  He  felt  rush  over  him 
that  first  hot  flush  of  resentment  which  introduces 
us  to  an  attack  of  jealousy,  quickly  followed  by  its 
deadly  chill.  He  lingered  in  the  rear,  feeding  his 
rage  upon  the  fell  sight  ahead  of  him.  Presently 
Adele  turned  and  awaited  him,  the  enemy  beside 
her  talking  earnestly  the  while,  his  eyes  never 
leaving  her  face. 

"We  waited  for  you,"  she  said  inanely  as  one 
does  to  tide  over  an  awkward  situation,  recogniz- 
ing the  young  officer's  condition  at  a  glance,  and 

154 


TOO    MANY    CHAPERONES 

rejoicing  exceedingly  in  her  power  over  men's 
moods. 

"So  I  observe,"  Robb  heard  himself  say,  with 
disgust  at  his  want  of  control  over  the  forces 
within  him. 

"Doctor  D'Estrees,  I  want  you  to  know  my 
friend  and — shall  I  say  shipmate? — Doctor  Robb 
of  the  'Boston.'  " 

"Doctor  Roobb !  Eet  ees  a  gr-r-eat  pleasure  to 
meet  a  colleague  so  far  from  our  common  base  of 
supplies." 

The  Italian  bowed  low,  smiled  radiantly — their 
hands  met. 

"About  three  miles  and  a  half,  I  should  say," 
grunted  the  younger  man,  without  enthusiasm. 

"Ah-h !  You  mistek'  my  meaning — qui-i-te !  I 
mean  nort  the  chemist  down  there — no  1  Bot  the 
great  schools  of  our  profession — Paris,  Vienna, 
Bologna,  yes  and  your  New  York  al-so." 

"Thanks,"  drawled  Robb  so  offensively  that 
Dell  gave  him  a  glance  meant  to  wither,  and  took 
the  lines  of  conversation  in  firm  hands.  Where- 
upon the  American  experienced  shame  and  remorse, 
and  sought  to  redeem  himself — but  it  was  too  late. 
The  Italian  had  taken  in  at  once  the  whole  situa- 
tion, and  from  being  amused  by  the  other  man's 

155 


PEACE   AND   THE   VICES 

mood,  he  had  become  suddenly  enraged.  He  had 
made  one  advance  toward  this  cold  calculating 
American;  it  had  been  repelled.  He  should  be 
taught  a  lesson,  this  boy!  The  unquenchable 
Italian  instinct  for  drama  was  aroused,  and  for 
the  first  time  since  meeting  her  at  "Ippon  Matsu," 
there  was  crystallized  within  him  an  intention  re- 
garding the  girl  whose  charm  had  abided  with 
him.  The  blood  ran  more  quickly  through  D'Es- 
trees'  veins  than  it  had  in  many  a  long  day,  as  he 
turned  abruptly  away  from  Robb  toward  Adele, 
and  said  in  his  deep  beautiful  voice: 

"As  I  was  saying:  I  rode  fourteen  miles  to  my 
pa-a-tient  thees  morning,  I  perform  the — I  mean, 
I  did  what  I  could — four  hours  en  route,  remem- 
ber !  And  when  I  left  the  house  the  father — now, 
what  do  you  the-e-nk  he  said  to  me?  Eet  seems 
he  stordies  the  English,  as  all  the  world  must  do 
on  the  road  to  success.  He  bowed  double,  he  drew 
the  long  breath  of  ceremony,  and  said  (one  word 
jumping  over  the  back  of  the  orther)  :  'I  hop' 
you  weel  call  again  very  soon,  when  you  have  a 
leisure  hour!'"  Adele  matched  this  with  O 
Hani's  latest,  and  then  D'Estrees  looked  at  his 
watch,  apologized,  shouted  to  his  lagging  kuruma- 
men,  and  explained  with  his  usual  rush  of  words 

and  many  gestures: 

156 


TOO   MANY   CHAPERONES 

"The  Canadian  mail  mos'  be  een,  I  mos'  tear 
myself  away.  And  you  weel  give  me  the  evening 
for  a  dinner  at  my  house?  Choose  exactly  your 
own  day,  guests,  your  chaperone,  your  menu.  I 
want  you,  Mees  Tality — all  the  rest  ees  bot  the 
fra-a-me.  We  weel  have  music  together.  You 
sing,  I  can  see  by  the  throat.  Doctor  Roobb — 
have  I  the  nem? — you  weel  al-so  give  me  the 
honor?  A  rivederci!"  With  a  shout  and  a  dash 
the  liveried  servants  clattered  off  in  a  little  cloud 
of  dust. 

Adele's  heart  was  beating  fast  from  the  clash 
between  her  knights,  which  she  felt  as  keenly  as 
a  maiden  might  watching  a  joust  with  spears,  in 
the  old  days  of  deeds  when  words  were  only  just 
being  born  here  and  there  out  of  the  chaos  of 
silence. 

"How  long  has  this  been  going  on,  may  I  ask?" 
came  humbly  from  the  suffering  survivor. 

"What  an  uncomplimentary  question!  As  if 
the  date  could  be  any  other  than  the  first  day  that 
he  saw  me!" 

She  sought  his  glance  smiling,  but  he  looked 
straight  ahead,  his  handsome  profile  very  white 
and  rigid.  And  then  his  obvious  unhappiness  went 
to  her  heart,  and  to  reinstate  his  peace,  so  repeat- 

157 


PEACE   AND   THE   VICES 

edly  disturbed  that  afternoon,  she  crossed  the  road 
and  said  the  only  thing  in  the  only  way  that  would 
make  him  forget  all  else: 

"Doctor,  I'm  so  tired  1" 

Instantly  he  was  another  man,  full  of  gentle 
solicitude,  regrets,  suggestions.  He  led  her  to 
the  roadside  and  sat  beside  her,  holding  the  um- 
brella with  one  hand  and  fanning  her  with  the 
other,  and  she  thanked  him  pathetically,  closing 
her  eyes.  Whereupon  he  dropped  all  else  and  felt 
her  pulse;  an  impossible  task,  his  own  was  so  in- 
sistent. 

"I  certainly  am  an  utter  brute  I  It's  the  sun,  you 
poor  child!" 

"I  think  so  too — I  mean  the  sun!"  murmured 
the  half-swooning  one,  always  so  pale  she  could 
count  upon  herself  without  fear.  Her  only  inten- 
tion was  to  make  him  happy  once  more  in  the  mere 
joy  of  caring  for  her,  which  being  accomplished 
she  revived  slowly.  Then  he  left  her  and  went 
on  to  recall  their  jinrikishas,  as  he  would  not  con- 
sent to  her  walking. 

"Oh,  I'm  so  glad  I'm  a  woman!"  the  girl  mur- 
mured to  herself  when  alone,  leaning  back  against 
a  bowlder  with  closed  eyes,  smiling. 

So  they  went  back  as  they  came,  he  walking  be- 
158 


TOO    MANY    CHAPERONES 

side  her  jinrikisha,  at  peace  with  the  world.  All 
would  have  gone  well  if  the  coolies  had  not  chosen 
the  Oura  Road  instead  of  the  Maminohira  Hill, 
thereby  passing  D'Estrees'  house,  who  may  or 
may  not  have  been  responsible  for  that  choice. 

At  any  rate  there  he  was  waiting  at  his  gate,  in 
spotless  white  duck,  dark-blue  cummerbund  and 
flowing  tie,  and  he  pounced  upon  them  as  they 
passed,  with  a  boyish  shout: 

"Ah-ha!  Mees  Tality!  I  have  been  hoping 
exactly  thees  would  happen.  I  watch  the  sem  as 
an  old  cat  for  you  and — for  Doctor  Roobb,"  he 
turned  to  the  other  man  with  the  lowest  of  salutes, 
a  broad  sweep  of  the  arm,  a  shrug,  an  uplifted  eye- 
brow, a  studiedly  false  smile. 

Robb  stood  once  more  frozen,  preoccupied  by  a 
fast-growing  hatred — the  sunshine  gone,  hope  in 
his  breast  simply  awaiting  burial. 

"You  weel  come  een  and  pour  once  the  tea  for  an 
old  bachelor,  yes?  You  and — your  friend.  One 
cup,  two  bites  of  hot  toast,  not  ten  minutes  of  your 
time.  Does  that  nort  sound  tempting?  Confess! 
Come !  while  we  spic',  the  toast  ees  getting  cold, 
come !"  His  hand  was  out,  his  manner  irresistible, 
and  before  she  realized  it  Adele,  with  guilty  plead- 
ing eyes  upon  the  younger  man,  was  within  the  ene- 

159 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

my's  gates,  avowing  a  great  hunger  and  thirst. 
Robb  took  his  evil  mood  by  the  throat  and  they 
went  in.  Tea  was  served  on  a  little  loggia  at  the 
back  of  the  house,  overlooking  a  quaint  Japanese 
garden.  Then  they  went  into  the  house  again, 
and  D'Estrees  went  to  the  piano  and  played  an 
andante  of  Beethoven's  with  that  gentle  padded 
touch  that  cannot  be  taught;  and  Adele  sang  one 
verse  of  "Lehn  deine  Wang  an  meine  Wang," 
with  such  exquisite  tenderness  that  Robb  forgot  his 
woes,  and  the  Italian  his  English;  and  it  darted 
through  him  that  perhaps  he  had  commenced  a 
game  with  double-edged  tools. 

When  they  left,  Adele's  hands  were  full  of 
great  pink  lotus  blooms,  her  cheeks  aflame,  her 
eyes  dancing  in  the  old  way  that  had  wrought  dis- 
aster so  often  before. 

At  the  gate  D'Estrees,  sure  of  the  American 
officer's  eyes,  travestied  adoration,  laughing  and 
saying  in  his  deep  vibrating  voice : 

"Senorina  mia,  I  can  see — eet  ees  inevitable — 
eet  has  come — there  ees  now  no  escap'  for  me! 
And  I  mos',  from  now,  see  you  each  day,  once 
each  day.  Oh,  I  know  well,  you  weel  hide;  your 
black  woman  weel  mek'  the  leetle  fib  at  the  door : 
'Mees  Dell  she's  gone  out,  so  sorry,  sahl' '  (He 

160 


TOO    MANY    CHAPERONES 

had  Mammy's  voice  and  smile  to  perfection.) 
"But,  just  the  sem',  I  shall  see  you  each  day.  Eet 
ees  a  pathognomonic  of  love,  to  be  exacting — the 
whiter  the  fla-a-me,  the  greater  the  heat  to  main- 
tain eet — I  appeal  to  your  friend,  no  ?  Good-night, 
you  have  med  me  very  happy,  I  thank  you  both. 
Good-night." 

He  stood  leaning  over  his  gate  and  watched 
them  as  they  went  up  the  road,  and  he  said  to 
himself  : 

"So!  A  Saxon  would  teach  a  Latin  the  lesson 
of  woman !  Did  he  think — the  cold,  inert,  fish- 
blooded  thing! — that  a  D'Estrees  could  be  easily 
overborne  in  an  affair  of  this  sort  ?  We  shall  see, 
what  we  shall  see!" 

"Shall  I  throw  these  away?"  asked  Robb  at 
the  gate  of  "Ippon  Matsu,"  gazing  down  at  the 
wilted  ferns  in  his  hands  to  which  he  had  been 
faithful. 

"Aren't  you  ashamed  of  yourself?"  was  her 
answer,  holding  out  her  hand  and  fixing  him  with 
reproachful  eyes.  And  he  was  a  long  time  trans- 
ferring them  from  his  hand  to  hers.  At  the  door 
he  said,  now  quite  master  of  himself: 

"So  the  Italian  pleases  you?" 

"As  a  friend,  yes;  as  a  lover,  perhaps;  but  as 

- '» 

a~  161 


PEACE   AND    THE   VICES 

"As  a ?" 

"Never,  never,  never,  as  a — "  she  got  inside 
the  door,  and  peered  back  at  him  through  a  crack 
— "as  a  husband!" 

"Adele!"  he  cried  springing  forward.  But  the 
door  was  shut  in  his  face,  and  there  was  no  re- 
sponse to  his  soft  coaxing  tattoo,  save  an  exact  imi- 
tation of  it  on  the  inside  of  the  door,  and  then 
complete  silence. 

But  somehow,  Leigh  Robb  went  back  to  the  ship 
happy. 


162 


CHAPTER   IX 

UNDER   ARREST 

"  What  a  thing  friendship  it,  world  without  end!" 

ONE  intensely  hot  afternoon  a  few  days  later, 
Fellowes  and  his  brother-in-law  were  seated 
in  the  state-room  of  the  suspended  officer,  when 
Lieutenant  Nugent  appeared  in  the  open  door,  in 
his  hand  a  large  official  envelope.  He  was  in  frock- 
coat  and  wore  side-arms;  his  face  was  pale,  and 
as  he  saluted  there  was  the  look  in  his  eyes  of  a 
dumb  animal  in  intense  pain.  There  was  a  pause, 
during  which  Fellowes  arose,  and  squared  his 
shoulders  unconsciously  as  he  faced  his  brother 
officer.  Nugent's  sad  eyes  clung  to  the  port-hole 
over  Kent's  shoulder,  as  he  said  in  a  voice  devoid 
of  expression: 

"I  am  directed,  sir,  by  the  commanding  officer 
to  hand  you  the  charges  and  specifications  pre- 
ferred against  you  by  the  commander-in-chief. 
You  are  to  consider  yourself  as  under  arrest,  and 
the — and  the  captain  has  ordered  me  to  demand 

your  sword." 

163 


PEACE   AND   THE   VICES 

"He  might  have  spared  you  that!"  cried  Talty. 
Fellowes  raised  his  hand  commanding  silence,  and 
with  quiet  dignity  reached  over  for  his  sword  and 
belt  and  handed  them  to  Nugent,  who  again  salut- 
ed, swung  to  the  right  on  one  heel  and  marched 
stiffly  away. 

The  other  two  listened  in  silence  to  the  rattle 
of  the  belt-buckle  against  the  sword,  growing 
fainter  and  fainter  as  the  bearer  walked  away. 

"He  might  have  spared  you  that,  damn  himl" 
repeated  Talty,  of  the  two  apparently  much  the 
more  moved. 

Kent  stood  leaning  against  his  bunk,  his  back 
turned. 

"You  are  not  just,  Jack.  The  captain  is  a  per- 
fectly fair,  honorable  man,  and  he's  well  within 
the  regulations." 

"Only  he  isn't  quite  big  enough  to  be  merciful," 
commented  Doctor  Robb's  quiet  voice  at  the  door, 
and  they  knew  he  had  heard  and  understood. 

Entering  and  drawing  the  curtain  after  him,  he 
added : 

"Fellowes,  if  you  do  not  fight  this  case  you  will 
never  get  that  sword  back."  Talty  nodded  ap- 
proval behind  Kent's  back.  When  he  at  last 
turned  toward  them,  they  saw  the  face  of  a  man 

164 


UNDER    ARREST 

suddenly  stricken  with  age,  and  pinched  with  the 
despair  born  of  self-failure. 

Handing  the  envelope  to  Talty,  he  sank  on  the 
edge  of  his  bunk  saying: 

"Read  it,  Jack,  I  cannot." 

Talty  now  sat  on  the  folding-stool,  waving  the 
doctor  into  the  one  chair  in  front  of  the  desk;  then 
with  nervous  hands  he  broke  the  seal,  glanced  over 
the  lengthy  contents  and  ejaculated: 

"Get  a  brace  on  yourself,  old  man,  it's  about 
as  bad  as  they  could  make  it."  The  officer  on 
the  bunk  shrank,  and  his  head  sank  lower  on  his 
breast,  and  Talty  made  haste  to  read  with  monoto- 
nous rapidity: 

Charges,  and  specifications  of  charges,  preferred  by  the 
Commander-in-Chief  United  States  Naval  Force,  Asiatic 
Station,  against  Kent  Fellowes,  Lieutenant,  United  States 

Navy: 

CHARGE  I. 

Absence  from  station  and  duty  without  leave. 
Specification. 

In  that  the  said  Kent  Fellowes,  a  lieutenant  in  the 
United  States  Navy,  attached  to  and  serving  as  such  on 
board  the  United  States  ship  "Boston,"  a  vessel  belonging 
to  the  United  States  Naval  Force  on  the  Asiatic  Station, 
did  on  the  second  day  of  August,  eighteen  hundred  and 
ninety-seven,  absent  himself  from  said  vessel  without  leave 

165 


PEACE   AND    THE   VICES 

from  proper  authority,  and  did  remain  so  absent  until  the 
seventh  day  of  the  month  aforesaid. 

CHARGE  II. 
Drunkenness. 

Specification. 

In  that  the  said  [and  so  forth,  and  so  forth]  was,  while 
absent  from  said  ship  and  ashore,  in  the  city  of  Nagasaki, 
Empire  of  Japan,  on  or  about  the  second  day — and  so 
forth,  and  so  forth — under  the  influence  of  intoxicating 
liquor  and  unfit  for  duty. 

CHARGE  III. 

Scandalous  conduct  tending  to  the  destruction  of  good 
morals. 

Specification. 

In  that  the  said  [and  so  forth,  and  so  forth]  did  on  or 
about  the  second  day  of  August,  eighteen  hundred  and 
ninety-seven,  by  reason  of  the  excessive  use  of  intoxicants 
become  incapacitated  for  the  proper  performance  of  duty, 
this  to  the  scandal  and  disgrace  of  the  Naval  service. 

R.  R.  TlTTERINGTON, 

Rear  Admiral,  U.  S.  Navy, 
Commander-in-Chief,  U.  S.  Naval  Force, 
Asiatic  Station. 

U.  S.  Flagship  . 

Nagasaki,  Japan,  August  13,  1897. 

The  only  sound  in  the  room  was  the  buzz  of 
the  electric  fan,  reasserting  itself. 

166 


UNDER    ARREST 

Robb  broke  the  silence  which  followed  the  read- 
ing, saying  in  his  usual  tranquillizing  tone : 

"How  do  they  expect  to  prove  charge  second? 
I  managed  to  keep  clear  of  all  absolute  knowledge 
— I  can  swear  to  it." 

"Same  here,"  said  Talty  dryly,  who  would  have 
used  the  vernacular  at  the  gates  of  heaven. 

"I  shall  plead  guilty  to  all  three  charges,"  came 
with  decision  from  the  bunk. 

"You  told  me  you  would  fight  itl"  cried  Talty. 

"I  had  not  seen  the  charges — I  did  not  realize 
it — the  spell  of  a  man's  home — was  upon  me — it 
was  not  clear  to  me,  before — they — took — my — 
sword!" 

His  voice  broke  and  then  with  rising  excitement 
he  added : 

"With  that  went  everything!  What  have  I 
to  save,  even  if  I  do  consent  to  a  lie?  It's  gone, 
I  tell  you,  my  whole  life's  gone  to  smash !  I  am 
a  disgrace  to  the  service  I  would  have  died  for! 
I  have  only  one  thing  left — I  have  never  yet  told 
a  lie,  let  me  keep  that  at  least,  gentlemen !" 

Robb's  sane  voice  broke  the  tension. 

"Fellowes,  you  know  as  well  as  I  do  that  plead- 
ing is  not  a  lie.  It  is  a  mere  legal  form,  without 
which  equity  would  soon  perish  from  the  earth. 

167 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

Make  them  prove  it,  that  is  all.  You  shut  out  all 
evidence  at  once  by  pleading  guilty." 

Talty's  eyes  leaped  from  one  face  to  another. 

"You'll  get  your  punishment  all  right,  Kent  (if 
that's  what  you  feel  the  need  of),  on  charge  first; 
you're  dead  sure  of  that;  now  then,  'stand  mute' 
on  the  other  two,  that's  all  we  ask,"  he  urged. 

"Who  will  be  judge-advocate?"  the  doctor  sud- 
denly demanded. 

"Hopkins." 

"Good!  he's  irritable,  but  you  know  he  holds 
to  the  old-fashioned  idea  that  a  prosecuting  at- 
torney exists  to  bring  out  the  truth,  whatever  it 
is  I" 

And  so  the  two  friends  bent  their  wits  toward 
building  up  the  stricken  officer's  self-respect,  and 
at  the  same  time  levelling  the  high  altar  of  his 
personal,  almost  fanatic,  integrity,  which  blocked 
the  way  of  possible  succor.  Finally  the  doctor 
suggested : 

"Fellowes,  may  I  tell  you  honestly  as  an  old 
friend  and  shipmate,  what  I'd  like  you  to  do?  I 
knew  a  case  very  much  like  yours  where  it  was 
done  and  done  well,  and  saved  the  fellow's  com- 
mission. Go  into  court  without  counsel,  and  read 
your  own  defence " 


UNDER   ARREST 

"I  have  no  defence!  Why  do  you  and  Talty 
torture  me!"  broke  in  Fellowes  irritably,  for  the 
first  time. 

"One  moment,  please,  my  dear  fellow.  I  was 
about  to  say  that  I'd  like  you  to  present  only  what's 
called  the  sentimental  (that's  not  the  word) 
human  side.  Just  tell  the  simple  truth  in  the 
simplest  way.  Your  long  fight — O  you  know 
what  I  mean — and  throw  yourself  on  the  mercy 
of  the  Court." 

"And  to  thunder  with  forms!  I  see  the  whole 
thing,"  broke  in  Jack  excitedly. 

"It's  not  in  me  to  do  such  a  thing,  Jack.  It's 
absolutely  foreign  to  my  whole  nature — such  as  I 
have,"  said  Fellowes  bitterly. 

"Will  you  let  me  do  it  for  you?"  came  very 
quietly  from  Robb. 

"The  very  man!"  exclaimed  Talty,  springing 
to  his  feet. 

"I  don't  know  what  to  do!  There  is  that  same 
preliminary  lie  staring  at  me  from  every  exit. 
Ah !  don't  think,  either  of  you,  that  I  lose  sight, 
for  one  moment,  of  your  endless  kindness  to  me, 
now  that  I  have  fallen  so  low.  If  anything  can 
redeem  a  poor  devil  it  is  friendship  like  yours!" 

The  others  moved  uneasily,  trained  shy  of  emo- 
169 


PEACE   AND   THE   VICES 

tlonal  expression.  But  the  ice  about  Fellowes' 
heart  had  melted  at  last  and  the  words  poured  from 
his  lips  in  a  torrent : 

"Oh,  if  some  great  orator  could  but  translate 
into  speech  the  hell  that  is  within  me  to-day,  the 
vice  of  drink  would  vanish  from  the  earth!  He 
could  use  the  lesson  of  my  life  and  welcome — I 
should  not  have  lived  in  vain.  The  long,  long 
years  of  fighting;  the  failures;  the  self-loathing; 
the  struggle  to  my  feet  again  each  time;  the  high 
ideals;  the  low  consummations;  and  the  weariness, 
weariness  of  wasted  effort!  Trained  for  battle, 
and  not  even  able  to  conquer  myself!  Craving 
with  almost  frenzy  the  big  things  in  living,  and 
not  even  making  my — home — a  happy  one !  God ! 
to  get  this  thing  outside  of  myself  and  strangle 
it  with  my  own  hands!"  he  struck  the  wood-work 
of  his  narrow  bunk  with  his  fist,  as  if  he  had  at 
last  by  the  throat  the  vice  that  had  been  his  un- 
doing. The  others  sat  with  bowed  heads,  unwill- 
ing to  look  at  the  man  in  his  agony,  shrinking 
sensitively  from  each  other's  eyes.  Fellowes 
turned  and  looked  at  them  and  understood  and 
faltered  out : 

"I  beg  your  pardon,"  then  a  rap  on  the  door- 
frame startled  them  all. 

170 


UNDER   ARREST 

Talty  drew  the  curtain,  and  the  level  voice  of 
the  messenger  sounded  grotesque,  in  their  over- 
wrought mood. 

"This  note  for  Lieutenant  Fellowes  just  came 
off,  sir.  Any  answer,  sir?" 

Jack  handed  it  to  his  brother-in-law,  and  then 
conversed  aside  with  the  doctor  in  low  tones. 

It  was  Dora's  daily  letter  to  her  husband,  and 
his  hungry  eyes  devoured  the  closely  written  pages 
bearing  witness  to  her  unquenchable  love,  her  in- 
domitable courage.  At  the  end  were  these  words : 

"They  tell  me,  dear,  you  will  not  consent  to 
plead  'not  guilty.'  Of  course  I'm  by  no  means  a 
Portia  (and  yet  when  one  thinks  of  it,  she  is  only 
the  queen  of  the  literal,  the  common-sense  view 
of  things,  isn't  she?)  ;  but  it  seems  to  me  that  the 
world  (social,  political  or  commercial)  would 
come  to  a  standstill  but  for  the  small  change  of 
certain  conventional  fibs  which  come  to  have,  as 
so  many  words  do,  a  second  meaning,  which  has 
wandered  far  away  from  the  first  one.  The  real 
fault  lies  more  in  the  paucity  of  words  in  any 
language  to  express  exact  meaning,  rather  than  in 
the  use  of  them  to  apparently  a  false  end.  I  bid 
my  servants  say  'out'  at  the  door  every  day  of  my 
life,  a  round  of  formal  calls  is  one  long  articulated 

171 


PEACE   AND   THE   VICES 

falsehood,  if  you  must  know,  sir!  I  think,  dear, 
you  should  yield  to  the  advice  of  those  about  you. 
A  more  honorable  set  of  men  I  do  not  believe 
exists.  You  all  live  quite  apart  from  the  world  of 
barter,  in  an  atmosphere  almost  solely  one  of 
striving  after  ideals — patriotism,  courage,  honor. 
Surely,  dear  heart,  you  can  trust  to  the  counsels 
of  such  as  these!  Please  be  guided  by  them  for 
all  our  sakes,  and  God  be  with  you  to  the  end, 
my  love." 

Scribbling  a  hasty  reply  at  his  desk,  he  dashed 
it  into  an  envelope,  wrote  the  address,  gave  it  and 
a  silver  coin  to  the  messenger,  dragged  the  curtain 
once  more  across  the  pole  with  a  loud  rattle  of 
the  brass  rings,  turned  abruptly  to  the  doctor,  and 
said: 

"I  will  fight  the  case.  I  will  do  exactly  what 
you  bid  me." 


172 


CHAPTER   X 

MAMMY   SEES  THE    "WHITE    LIGHT" 

"  "Ti»  an  awkward  thing  to  play  with  souls, 
And  matter  enough  to  save  one's  own. ' ' 

TWO  days  before  Lieutenant  Fellowes'  trial 
was  the  middle  day  of  the  Bon  Matsuri 
in  Nagasaki.  Differing  little  in  spirit  from  All 
Souls'  Day  in  Latin  Europe  (and  in  form,  mainly 
that  in  the  Western  world  the  gift  of  flowers  bore 
the  testimony  of  faithfulness  to  their  dead),  the 
Feast  of  Lanterns  in  the  older  country  places  upon 
the  graves  the  tribute  of  the  source  of  all  life- 
light  ;  a  far  deeper  symbolism. 

Adele  had  received  that  morning  invitations 
from  her  two  doctors,  Robb  and  D'Estrees,  to  go 
to  the  midnight  launching  of  the  "straw-boats"  at 
Ohata,  on  the  following  evening  (the  third 
and  final  of  the  festival),  when  the  souls  of  the 
departed  return  to  their  abode  after  the  yearly 
visit  ashore,  to  collect  their  meed  of  loyalty. 

Although  D'Estrees'  note  offered  the  greater 
173 


PEACE   AND   THE   VICES 

ease  of  his  private  launch,  and  a  gay  supper  after- 
ward to  his  little  party  of  four  others  besides  them- 
selves, she  accepted  Robb's,  baited  only  with  the 
expressed  hope  that  her  sister  would  trust  her  to 
him,  and  the  promise  of  a  hired  sampan  and  two 
tested  sendo.  He  knew  she  was  in  no  mood  for 
gayety. 

When  Yamaguchi  started  off  with  Miss  Talty's 
chit-book,  containing  her  two  replies,  he  naturally 
delivered  the  Italian's  first,  at  the  foot  of  the  hill 
below  "Ippon  Matsu."  After  reading  Miss  Tal- 
ty's "regret  that  a  previous  engagement  would 
prevent,"  and  seeing  the  Naval  officer's  name  be- 
low his  own  in  the  tale-telling  list  of  the  chit- 
book,  D'Estrees  became  suddenly  inflamed  with 
jealousy. 

"About  five  minutes  'previous,'  no  more!"  he 
muttered  to  himself,  as  he  dug  his  distorted  ini- 
tials into  the  page  opposite  his  name  and  tossed 
the  book  to  his  Japanese  "boy." 

It  still  lacked  twenty  minutes  of  the  time  to 
close  his  morning  office-hours,  but  D'Estrees  broke 
a  hitherto  inviolable  rule  and  left  the  house  at 
once,  impatient  of  inaction,  and  tore  up  the  Bund 
to  the  only  shop  in  town  which  handled  European 
stationery,  and  demanded  the  dernier  cri  in  femi- 

174 


MAMMY    SEES    THE    "WHITE    LIGHT" 

nine  chit-books.  After  much  cavil,  he  bought  one 
of  dark-blue  leather  lined  with  velvet  of  the  same 
shade,  a  mere  empty  cover  that  told  no  tales  on 
the  fair — and  generally  perfidious — owner. 

Too  irritated  to  await  the  slower  development 
of  his  small  drama,  the  Italian  went  directly  to 
"Ippon  Matsu,"  asked  for  Miss  Tally,  and 
awaited  her  coming  with  an  excitement  which  he 
now  no  longer  could  stem. 

It  was  as  if  the  passion  had  been  awaiting  that 
one  spark  of  jealousy  to  burst  into  flame — and 
like  most  fires  when  once  started,  the  end  thereof 
of  disaster  cannot  be  safely  predicted. 

He  strode  up  and  down  the  room,  into  which 
Mammy  had  ushered  him,  pushing  the  chairs  right 
and  left  out  of  his  path;  and  now  and  then  wiping 
his  brow  with  a  large  handkerchief,  from  which 
a  faint  perfume  advertised  a  nature  given  to  much 
petting  of  its  several  senses. 

His  manner  changed  at  once  when  Adele  en- 
tered. He  became  elaborately  courteous,  cold, 
grave — only  there  burned  in  his  black  eyes  a  dan- 
gerous brilliancy. 

"I  have  given  to  myself  the  pleasure,  Mees 
Tality,  to  breeng  you  a  very  leetle  present.  A 
theeng  you  are  much  een  the  need  of." 

175 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

"Oh,  how  delightful!  I  do  so  love  to  be  sur- 
prised, it's  my  favorite  emotion,"  cried  the  girl 
seizing  the  package  and  pulling  at  the  string  with 
a  child's  impatience.  When  at  last,  stripped  of 
its  wrapper,  she  took  the  gift  in  her  hand  and  ex- 
amined it,  she  murmured: 

"How  dainty!  But,  please,  what  is  it  for?  It 
hasn't  any — true  inwardness.  It's  only  a  cover, 
but  of  what?  for  what?" 

"A  cover — yes!  Of  what?  Of  the  intricacies 
(have  I  the  word?)  of  a  woman's  caprice,  vanity, 
cruelty.  For  what?  To  spare  perhaps  a  leetle  pen 
to  the  hearts  who  cannort  hot  care  for  her." 

Whether  the  man  really  meant  it,  whether  he 
was  merely  carried  along  by  the  momentum  of  his 
artistic  nature  (forever  a  recreation  to  one  of  his 
temperament),  Adele  was  at  a  loss  to  determine; 
but  she  was  experienced  enough  to  assume  the 
latter  to  be  the  case,  although  his  mood,  his  pale 
face,  his  sonorous  voice,  affected  her  strongly. 

"Tell  me  instantly,  Doctor  D'Estrees,  how  this 
little  thing  produces  such  alarming  effects?" 

"Reduces,  nort  produces.  I  weel  explen." 
She  seated  herself  and  he  stood  before  her. 

"I  nottice  when  your  cheet-book  cam'  to  me  an 
hour  ago,  Mees  Tality,  refusing  to  go  weet  me  to- 

176 


MAMMY    SEES    THE    "WHITE    LIGHT" 

morrow  night,  that  you  had  become  possessed  of 
the  old  stupid  kind — the  man's  cheet-book,  een 
fact — open,  frank,  nems  all  plen  and  clear;  no 
secrets  to  hide — a  man's  li-i-fe!" 

Adele  gave  a  gentle,  little  cough  and  drooped 
her  eyes  adorably,  but  he  refused  to  be  diverted. 

"The  ladies'  book  should  nort  be  of  that  ingen- 
u-ousness.  (Ugh !  I  li-i-ke  nort  that  congested  word 
of  yours!)  That  which  you  hold  ees  the  proper 
one,  I  beg  you  weel  from  now  use  no  orther.  No 
record  there  of  the  affaires  du  cceur,  en  troika! 
The  note  to  say:  'yes>'  beside  the  note  to  say: 
'no,'  to  anorther.  No!  One  at  a  time.  Your 
coolie's  pouch  only  carries  the  truth.  Do  you  see 
the  meaning,  yes?" 

Adele's  flushed  cheeks  and  conscious  eyes  be- 
trayed her,  although  she  vowed  the  mystery  only 
grew  with  the  explanation. 

After  a  short  silence,  he  went  to  her  and  took 
her  hand,  his  own  like  ice  and  his  face  was  greatly 
moved,  his  voice  recording  tremendous  heart-beats 
as  he  said  gently: 

"I  do  nort  want  to  care  for  you,  my  pretty  child. 
No !  nor  ees  my  love  precisely  a  blessing  een  any 
woman's  li-i-fe.  Oh,  do  I  nort  know  myself? 

Bot " 

177 


PEACE   AND   THE   VICES 

Mammy's  soft,  singing  voice  from  the  door 
broke  in  suddenly: 

"Miss  Dell,  I  hope  you-all  please  'scuse  me, 
but  Miss  Dora  she  sent  me  ter  find  you ;  I  reckon 
you'd  bes'  see  her  for  one  little  minute,  please 
miss." 

The  Italian  fled  to  the  window. 

Even  Mammy's  notoriously  unprincipled  soul 
scarce  deserved  the  fate  to  which  he  condemned  it, 
during  that  moment  when  he  stood  there  with 
clinched  hands,  raging  at  this  interruption. 

Adele,  wondering,  followed  Mammy  out  of  the 
room.  Never  had  she  taken  such  a  liberty  before, 
in  fact  had  always  stood  a  relentless  guard  over 
her  young  mistress'  social  consummations.  Once 
safely  out  of  hearing  the  negress  turned  swiftly 
and  whispered : 

"Please,  missy,  came  inter  yo'  room,  quick.  I 
jes'  'bliged  ter  speak  to  yer."  The  girl  obeyed  in 
amazement.  Once  inside,  Mammy  closed  the 
door  and  leaned  against  it  with  her  full  weight, 
facing  into  the  room. 

"Wha'  fer  you  snap  yo'  eyes  at  me,  Miss  Dell? 
You  know  mighty  well,  yo'  ole  Mammy  she  jes' 
only  live'  ter  keep  you-all  happy.  She  ain'  got 
no  life  of  her  very  own,  honey.  All  right,  all 

178 


MAMMY    SEES    THE    "WHITE    LIGHT" 

right,  chile,  ain'  I  tryin'  my  bes'  ter  tell  yer?  Miss 
Dell,  doan'  yer  give  no  'fence  toe  dat  deah  I-talian 
doctor  out  in  de  other  room!  Doan'  yer  do  it, 
honey!  You  jes'  mine  what  dis  ole  nigger  she 
say  dis  day!  You  be  mighty  kyarful  what  you 
say  ter  him.  I  was  a-settin'  over  yonder  mendin' 
Miss  Julie's  dress,  an'  suddenly  de  white  light 
come  ter  me,  miss!  An'  somethin'  hit  me  spang 
in  de  haid,  an'  it  come  ter  me  cl'ar,  like  de  sun  out 
deah !  He's  de  onlies'  puss  on  what  has  saw  de 
cap'n  when  he  wasn'  hlsself — de  onlies'  one! 
An'  dis  heah  co't-martial  sets  day  arfter  to-morror, 
miss,  yer  hyar  me?  We  doan'  want  any  ob  dat 
gent'man's  hate  jes'  now,  we  doan'.  Now  you  go 
on  back  toe  de  parlor,  Miss  Del,  but  you  be  sorf 
an'  kitty-catty,  an'  smile,  an'  send  him  away  chuck- 
full  ob  hopefulness." 

"Does  Miss  Dora  really  want  me?"  asked  Dell 
from  the  doorway. 

"Well,  I — I  doan'  reckon  she's  jes'  sot  'bout  it 
dis  'tick'lar  second,  miss,"  giggled  the  old  woman. 

Long  ago  Dell  had  learned  that  when  the 
"white  light"  came  to  Mammy,  there  was  only 
one  wise  thing  to  do — obey  at  any  cost  and  wait 
a  little.  But  for  that,  she  would  have  at  once  put 
an  end  that  afternoon  to  Doctor  D'Estrees'  aspira- 

179 


PEACE   AND    THE   VICES 

tlons,  whatever  they  were.  As  it  was,  she  tried 
all  her  expedients  one  after  another,  for  diverting 
the  conversation  into  less  personal  channels:  flat- 
tery of  his  intellectual  egoism,  banter,  cajolery, 
musical  preferences  and  prejudices — and  through 
all  he  sat  almost  in  silence,  laughing  slightly,  and 
biding  his  time.  Not  until  she  arose,  tremulous 
and  pale,  and  said  she  feared  she  should  have  to 
return  to  Mrs.  Fellowes,  did  he  act,  begging  for 
but  a  few  moments  more.  And  she  sat  down 
weaponless  and  helpless  before  him.  Walking  ex- 
citedly up  and  down  in  front  of  her,  he  poured 
out  rapidly  with  instinctive  dramatic  effect  the 
story  of  his  lonely  life,  the  slow  disintegration  of 
ambition  in  the  Orient,  the  revelation  of  her 
coming,  the  deep  necessity  of  her  remaining.  It 
was  too  perfectly  done  to  convince  her  of  aught 
but  his  art  and  served  but  to  salve  her  conscience. 
But  his  obviously  vast  experience,  his  terrible  in- 
tuition, his  dominating  animalism,  the  very  brill- 
iancy and  nimbleness  of  his  brain  left  her  appalled 
at  her  task  and  she  began  to  tremble  under  his 
eyes.  Seeing  which,  he  broke  into  that  curious  un- 
related laugh  and  walked  away  from  her  to  get 
himself  well  in  hand,  that  he  might  not  alarm  her 
by  the  one  small  glimpse  she  was  about  to  be  given 

180 


MAMMY    SEES    THE    "WHITE    LIGHT" 

of  the  storm  within  him.  Returning  to  her  he 
dragged  a  chair  near  her,  and  again  possessed  him- 
self of  a  little  hand  as  cold  as  his  own.  He  was 
now  quite  assured  of  the  end  by  her  palpitating 
silence,  her  evident  embarrassment,  her  very  pale, 
excited  face  and  frightened,  downcast  eyes. 

Never  until  that  hour  had  Dell  been  touched  by 
one  single  regret  for  her  long  career  of  conscience- 
less coquetry  with  men,  successfully  launched  dur- 
ing her  fifteenth  year. 

She  felt  as  she  sat  there,  her  tongue  tied  by 
Mammy's  tragically  urgent  warning — which  her 
own  judgment  indorsed — that  at  last  the  punish- 
ment had  come  of  which  she  had  so  often  been 
warned  by  her  half-laughing  elders.  If  it  had 
been  anyone  less  volcanic  than  this  inscrutable  Eu- 
ropean, it  would  have  been  so  simple !  And  then 
he  spoke: 

"Adelai'da,  look  up  into  my  eyes.  I  love  you, 
I  do  not  dare  to  tell  you  how  moch !  I  want  you 
een  my  li-i-f e !  Weel  you  come  ?  As  my  wi-i-f e  you 
shall  be  reech,  more  than  you  dream;  we  weel  love, 
and  laugh,  and  mek  the  music  together,  you  and  I. 
You  have  nort  done  one-half  weet  the  voice  that 
you  could;  you  can  play  la  grace  weet  the  hearts, 
you!  Say  bot  the  word  I  want  and  pent  for  me 

181 


PEACE   AND   THE   VICES 

to-morrow's  sunrise!  AdelaTda,  weel  you  nort 
spic'  ?  Now,  at  once !  Dio,  my  leetle  one,  you  are 
so  cruel!" 

Broken  hearts  rose  Macbeth-like  in  Dell's  mem- 
ory and  passed  in  review  before  her  inward  trem- 
bling vision.  She  moistened  her  parched  lips  and 
essayed  to  speak,  trying  to  withdraw  her  hand, 
but  his  grasp  was  like  iron,  albeit  he  had  the  phy- 
sician's soft,  satin-skinned  hand.  Finally,  almost 
in  a  whisper,  came: 

"I  will  answer  you  in  forty-eight  hours."  Jack 
had  said  the  Court  would  find  a  sentence  after  one 
session.  Dell  longed,  but  did  not  dare  ask,  for 
further  respite  from  D'Estrees'  inevitable  anger. 

The  Italian  was  instantly  on  his  feet,  almost 
flinging  back  her  hand. 

"So !  Eet  was  a  game,  after  all.  I  am  less  to 
you  than  that  man  of  wood  out  there  on  the  Amer- 
ican ship!  You  amuse  yourself — hal  I  thought 
as  moch.  I  have  the  honor  to  bid  you  good-morn- 
ing, Mees  Tality." 

"Doctor  D'Estrees!  please,  one  moment!"  she 
cried.  He  must  not  go  like  that;  once  outside  the 
house  his  animosity  was  assured;  with  a  quick 
thought  of  Dora  she  held  out  her  hand  to  her 
companion,  who  was  again  beside  her,  hat  in  hand. 

182 


MAMMY    SEES    THE    "WHITE    LIGHT" 

Putting  out  one  hand  she  laid  it  gently  on  his 
arm,  which  shook  under  the  light  touch,  and  then 
with  her  head  on  one  side,  her  eyes  coquetting  with 
his,  she  pouted  up  at  him: 

"Just  forty-eight  hours?  Surely  when  the  big 
things  in  life  come  to  us,  one  must  have  time  to 
catch  one's  breath;  to  resign  oneself  if  it  be  un- 
happiness,  to  taste — ah,  Doctor!  if  it  be  happiness ! 
That's  right!  I  like  your  smile  so  much  better 
than  that  black  scowl,  I  am  so  afraid  of  you  then! 
In  the  old  days,  a  lady  demanded  as  the  price  of 
her  hand  the  head  of  a  very  unsociable  dragon, 
or  a  gem  from  the  brow  of  an  Indian  idol  seven 
times  seven  locked  within  his  gates.  And  yet — 
when  I  ask  you  for  what?  forty-eight  hours,  look 
at  you !  Chivalry  is  indeed  gone  from  the  earth 
if  an  Italian  has  it  not!" 

"Adorable  child!  Ah-h,  do  weet  me  what  you 
weel !  Eet  ees  yours — forty-eight  hours,  my  soul, 
my  weel,  anytheeng,  everytheeng!  but  you  are 
mine,  do  you  hear?" 

He  was  smiling,  yielding  completely  to  her  se- 
ductions, flexible  in  her  hands — so  she  thought — 
for  which  reason  she  was  totally  unprepared  when 
he  suddenly  gathered  her  into  his  arms  and  left 
the  scar  of  his  passionate  kiss  upon  her  very  soul. 

183 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

And  when  he  released  her,  the  iniquity  of  her  en- 
forced silence  was  borne  in  upon  her  on  a  great 
wave  of  shame. 

He  left  the  house  at  once;  and  she  stood,  her 
hands  to  her  reeling  head,  and  knew  for  the  first 
time  that  she  loved — Leigh  Robb  I 


184 


CHAPTER    XI 

THE   FEAST   OF   LANTERNS 

"  O  how  this  spring  of  love  rcsembleth 
The  uncertain  glory  of  an  April  day  !  " 

DORA  insisted  that  her  sister  should  not 
deny  herself  the  few  quiet  pleasures  possi- 
ble under  the  circumstances,  and  it  seemed  but  to 
add  to  her  burden  if  Adele  isolated  herself  en- 
tirely. By  this  time  Robb  had  so  endeared  him- 
self to  the  little  household  through  all  those  long 
hours  of  suspense,  that  a  day  was  rare  that  did 
not  bring  to  one  of  them  some  evidence  of  his 
unremitting  thoughtfulness. 

Even  Dora  now  saw  him  freely  and  learned 
from  him  of  Kent's  welfare,  greedily  drinking 
from  the  cup  of  hope  he  held  out  to  her  in  his 
strong  quiet  hands.  She  had  never  left  the  com- 
pound since  the  day  she  had  arrived  from  Shanghai, 
shrinking  from  alien,  curious  eyes,  now  that  her 
secret  was  common  property.  The  shock  had  left 
her  as  nearly  morbid  as  it  was  in  her  to  become; 


PEACE   AND   THE   VICES 

the  strain  was  telling  on  her  cumulatively  day  after 
day.  Some  slight  peace  seemed  to  come  to  her 
only  when  left  alone  with  Julie  and  O  Haru,  the 
only  persons  she  could  be  sure  were  not  thinking 
forbidden  things  in  her  presence.  They  were  gay 
and  happy,  and  very  busy  in  their  own  little  round 
of  living,  and  they  alone  rested  her.  So  she  sat 
all  fair  days,  before  and  after  the  great  heat  of 
the  day,  in  the  summer-house;  and  there  was  little 
time  for  thought  with  Julie  playing  near,  endlessly 
restless,  imperious,  insistent  of  notice.  And  so 
they  left  her,  and  Mammy  watched  from  afar  and 
knew  the  need  of  her  was  fast  approaching. 

Since  the  Italian's  morning  call,  Adele  had  not 
had  one  happy  thought.  She  saw  very  clearly  all 
around  her  action  of  that  day;  and  although  she 
knew  the  climax  had  not  been  dreamed  of  by  her, 
she  felt  none  the  less  guilty,  contaminated,  humil- 
iated by  the  premises  which  had  led  up  to  it.  She 
had  used  her  womanhood  to  gain  an  end — for 
others,  to  be  sure,  but  that  counted  for  little  in  her 
present  mood.  She  had  been  false  to  herself,  that 
was  what  mortified  her.  She  felt  intuitively  that 
no  woman  would  ever  mean  more  to  the  Italian 
than  a  passing  obsession,  and  her  perfidy  to  him 
troubled  her  only  in  its  reflex  action.  For  the  first 

186 


THE    FEAST    OF    LANTERNS 

time  her  relations  with  men,  confessedly  founded 
on  vanity  alone,  seemed  stripped  of  their  decent 
frippery,  and  she  saw  them  in  a  new  light.  But 
above  all  else  was  the  sudden  revelation  of  her  love 
for  Leigh  Robb;  which  it  now  seemed  to  her  she 
had  forfeited  by  that  moment  of  horror  in  the 
Italian's  arms,  which  had  ended  the  spring-time  of 
her  life. 

Silent,  sleepless,  haunted,  she  wandered  about 
in  one  of  those  tragic  attacks  of  self-flagellation 
that  modify  the  Chauvinism  of  youth. 

She  had  written  Robb  withdrawing  her  accept- 
ance of  his  invitation  for  the  third  night  of  the 
Bon  Matsuri;  but  none  of  the  excuses  she  gave 
seemed  to  him  at  all  important,  and  he  arrived  at 
"Ippon  Matsu"  that  evening  determined  to  have 
his  way,  and  in  consequence  having  it. 

At  once  he  noticed  the  change  in  Adele's  looks 
and  manner,  and  noted  the  urgency  with  which 
she  coaxed  Dora  to  accompany  them,  in  which  case 
perhaps  she  might  be  brought  to  modify  her  de- 
cision. But  her  sister  shrank  at  the  word.  How 
could  they  ask  her  to  go  down  to  the  bay,  to  pass 
so  near  the  silent  ship  on  which  was  imprisoned  her 
unhappy  husband,  whom  she  had  not  seen  for  ten 
days!  She  looked  at  her  companions  reproach- 

187 


PEACE   AND    THE   VICES 

fully  with  her  great  sad  eyes,  and  went  to  her  sleep- 
ing baby's  crib  and  lifted  her  and  held  her  close 
and  sat  rocking  far  into  the  night,  and  hope  and 
peace  came  back  to  her. 

When  left  alone  with  Adele,  the  doctor  said: 

"Mrs.  Fellowes  does  not  want  either  of  us,  we 
simply  hurt  her  continually ;  and  as  for  your  head- 
ache, I  prescribe  a  sampan  for  two!  So  get  thee 
ready,  fair  maid,  and  come,"  and  she  did  not  even 
smile,  but  sat  in  silence,  refusing  his  eyes. 

Presently  she  arose  and  left  the  room,  returning 
with  a  hat  and  light  wrap,  and  he  rejoiced,  and 
they  went  their  way,  down  through  the  dark  streets 
of  the  foreign  settlement  to  the  Bund,  where  the 
awaiting  sampan  bore  witness  to  the  doctor's  self- 
confidence. 

Adele  would  have  laughed  a  week  ago,  but  now 
it  seemed  but  further  corroboration  of  her  weak- 
ness of  character  and  general  unsoundness,  and  she 
stepped  in  and  took  her  place  among  the  officer's 
own  cushions  in  the  stern,  in  entire  silence.  And 
he  wondered  greatly  and  made  further,  and  much 
more  daring,  resolutions. 

It  was  a  clear  starlit  night,  perfect  for  the 
apotheosis  of  the  Feast  of  Lanterns. 

There  were  two  boatmen,  one  standing  behind 
188 


THE    FEAST    OF    LANTERNS 

them  in  the  projecting  stern,  the  other  forward, 
and  as  they  headed  for  the  Ohata  landing,  far  up 
the  bay,  they  kept  up  a  cadence  of  soft  alternating 
respirations.  The  short  sturdy  figure  in  the  bow 
(clad  principally  in  tattooing)  stood  out  against 
the  projected  light  from  their  one  lantern  far  up 
forward,  turning  its  one  bright  eye  toward  the 
darkness  ahead. 

For  some  time  neither  Adele  nor  her  companion 
spoke.  Somehow  her  sense  of  humor  was  pecul- 
iarly absent  now  that  she  was  with  Robb,  and  that 
night  she  was  depressed  beyond  all  hiding. 

The  little  harbor  of  Nagasaki,  beautiful  at  all 
times,  lends  itself  pre-eminently  to  the  illumina- 
tion of  the  Bon  Matsuri.  The  cemeteries  cover  all 
the  steep  hill-sides  that  slope  back  from  the  old 
part  of  the  native  town,  and  each  grave  of  the 
many  thousands  bore  its  little  spark  of  light.  The 
crest  of  scintillation  reached  the  sky-line,  making 
one  great  gold-studded  curtain  from  almost  the 
water's  edge  to  the  zenith. 

"The  sky  itself  is  dragged  down  to  earth  to 
bear  witness  to  the  miracle  of  human  fealty,"  mur- 
mured the  doctor. 

"Why  not  the  reverse  of  that?  Human  fealty 
is  so  divine  a  thing  that  it  has  been  lifted  up  to 

189 


PEACE   AND   THE   VICES 

heaven's  rank.  A  love  like  Dora's?"  her  voice 
broke  at  the  end. 

"You  are  right.  And  it's  an  easy  thing  to  be 
true  to  the  dead,  compared  to  the  living.  To  place 
a  little  light  on  the  grave  where  the  offending  heart 
had  ceased  to  beat,  is  a  small  thing  beside  keeping 
alight  a  love  for  an  offending  heart  that  beats 
beside  one,"  he  replied  gravely. 

She  looked  at  him  sharply,  wondering  if  there 
was  purpose  in  his  saying  that,  to-night,  to  her. 

They  were  slowly  nearing  the  Ohata  end  of  the 
Bund,  which  was  ablaze  with  light,  packed  with  a 
jostling,  chattering  crowd.  Robb  spoke  to  the 
head  sendo. 

"The  boats  are  not  ready  yet.  I've  told  the 
man  to  row  us  directly  across  the  bay  to  get  a 
more  distant  view.  By  that  time  the  boats  for  the 
ferrying  of  the  souls  will  be  ready  to  be  launched." 

"Oh,  Doctor!  I  thought  we  were  to  get  off 
here  and  see  the  people  1"  she  cried,  dreading  the 
alternative  isolation. 

"Will  you  let  me  have  my  way — for  once?" 
he  laughed.  "I  think  to  come  in  contact  with  the 
human  side  of  this  one  festival  of  spirit-land  is 
a  mistake." 

She  was  helpless — water  cuts  off  all  exits  but  a 

final  one, 

190 


THE    FEAST    OF   LANTERNS 

The  doctor  could  only  account  for  Dell's  un- 
wonted mood  by  the  impending  trial  of  her 
brother-in-law,  and  he  sought  to  divert  her,  toning 
down  his  own  joyful  frame  of  mind  to  the  level 
of  hers.  He  tried  one  topic  after  another,  and 
she  only  half  listened,  leaning  forward  from  the 
low  seat.  Her  hat  was  off,  covertly  harbored  by 
Robb,  who  found  ecstasy  thereby. 

Her  dress  was  a  white  organdie  with  a  tracery 
of  pale  green  ferns,  lost  in  the  dim  light.  It  was 
rounded  out  at  the  neck,  with  a  fall  of  finest  East 
Indian  embroidery  about  it,  and  her  throat  rose 
from  that  base  like  a  miniature  marble  column. 
The  half-sleeves  left  bare  her  rounded  forearms. 
Now  and  then  a  passing  sampan  flashed  a  light 
upon  them,  and  a  jewel  on  one  of  her  fingers 
sparkled  like  a  firefly.  The  boatmen  were  killing 
time,  as  they  had  been  bidden,  and  rowed  slowly, 
their  unending  whispered  duet  had  become  a  part 
of  the  silence.  Presently  five  bells  in  many  voices 
rang  out  all  over  the  harbor. 

"Uno  bambino  Napoli"  suggested  Adele, 
sweeping  one  arm  out  over  the  arc  of  the  town 
at  that  moment  upon  their  left. 

Her  use  of  Italian  struck  him  as  sinister,  and 
he  began  obser/ing  her  from  a  new  footing. 

191 


PEACE   AND    THE    VICES 

Before  he  had  reached  the  point  of  a  light  reply, 
a  distant  strain  of  music  poured  out  its  perfect 
witchery  into  the  night.  The  American  admiral 
was  dining  on  the  Russian  flagship,  and  Mosz- 
kowski's  "False  Romantiqtte"  was  being  played  as 
the  last  bottle  of  champagne  helped  to  cement  an 
expedient  friendship  between  two  great  nations, 
still  in  their  vigorous  youth. 

"Ah!  that's  what  I've  been  wishing  for  and 
didn't  know  it — a  waltz !"  exclaimed  Robb. 

Adele  sat  erect  suddenly,  and  put  one  hand 
nervously  to  her  mouth. 

"What  is  there  in  a  waltz  that  tears  at  one's 
heart  sol  I  feel  as  if  I  could  not  stand  it — to- 
night," she  cried. 

"That's  a  fact.  Next  to  a  funeral  march  some- 
how it  plays  the  worst  havoc  with  one's  nerves — 
if  unhappy,  and  you  seem " 

"Oh !  the  waltz  is  a  hundred- fold  worse,  Doctor. 
The  march  detaches  one  at  once  from  life,  but  a 
waltz  like  that — distant — coming  and  going — 
sweet  as — sweet  as " 

"Life  is  meant  to  be?"  he  softly  suggested. 

"Yes — exactly  that — sweet  as  life  was  meant  to 
be;  and  it  stands  for  all  the  dear  old  foolishness 
of  living  that  goes  so  soon,  so  soon." 

192 


THE    FEAST    OF    LANTERNS 

"A  waltz  certainly  knows  a  lot  about  human 
nature,"  added  he,  glad  that  at  last  her  thoughts 
were  finding  an  outlet,  however  devious,  from  the 
source  of  her  trouble. 

"It  says  to  me — now  listen,  Doctor,  there,  there 
that  strain !  It  says :  'I  am  the  spirit  of  pleasure.  I 
was  old  when  Athens  was  born.  I  cannot  stay 
anywhere  long.  Make  the  most  of  your  chance !'  ' 

Her  voice  died  away,  the  wind  brought  the 
music  close  to  them,  and  stirred  him  strangely  into 
a  great  impatience  of  the  passing  hours. 

"It  stands  for  sentiment  only,  not  love,  some- 
how. I  don't  know  why,"  he  continued,  lest  silence 
again  should  steal  her  from  him.  And  she  an- 
swered : 

"I  remember  your  saying  that  love  is  a  tragedy. 
I  think  I  begin  to  see  what  you  mean." 

A  sharp  pang  went  through  Robb's  heart,  and 
instantly  he  associated  seriously,  for  the  first 
time,  Adele  and  the  Italian.  He  recalled  the 
man's  name  above  his  own  in  her  blabbing  chit- 
book,  and  D'Estrees'  agitated  initials  at  the  end 
of  the  line.  This  curious  change  in  the  girl,  her 
laugh  all  gone,  her  aloofness  from  him,  her  be- 
wildered feeling  out  into  emotional  spaces,  her 
bearing  lost  for  the  first  time  in  her  life — all  went 

193 


PEACE   AND    THE   VICES 

to  indorse  a  dreaded  theory.     The  music  died 
away,  six  bells  struck  in  a  jangled  sequence. 

"So  it  has  come  to  you,  at  last!"  he  finally 
ventured,  his  whole  being  in  suspension  for  her 
answer. 

"Yes,  it  has  come,"  she  said  sadly,  their  minds 
at  a  tangent,  and  hers  for  once  unwatchful  of  the 
action  of  his. 

"May  I  ask  a  question,  Miss  Adele?"  he  in- 
quired in  a  changed  voice  after  another  long  pause. 

She  nodded,  sure  without  looking  that  his  eyes 
were  upon  her. 

"Were  you — did  you — have  you  seen  Doctor 
D'Estrees  since  I  last  wrote  you  ?" 

"Yes." 

"I  thought  so;"  she  had  never  heard  his  voice 
with  that  hard  ring  in  it,  and  it  roused  her  out  of 
her  dream  and  she  turned  quickly  to  him: 

"Oh,  Doctor  I  if  I  could  let  it  out  to  you !  If 
I  could  only  tell  you  what  is  in  my  heart  to- 
night!" 

"Surely  after  all  these  years  you  can  count  ab- 
solutely upon  my — friendship — under  any  and  all 
contingencies." 

"I  cannot,  I  cannot!  You  of  all  people,  and 
that's  what  is  hurting  me  so." 

194 


THE    FEAST    OF    LANTERNS 

He  turned  toward  her  more  fully,  and  said 
almost  roughly: 

"Adele,  you  have  got  to  tell  me  now!  These 
hints  are  unworthy  of  you,  insulting  to  me.  If 
anything  is  in  the  way  of  your  happiness,  let  mine 
be  the  task  to  remove  it.  I  love  you  first,  then 
myself.  Be  honest  with  me." 

"I  had  nothing  to  tell  you  till  yesterday,  and 
now  I  can  never  tell  you." 

"Very  well,  that  ends  it,"  he  said,  angry  at  her 
persistent  enigmas.  He  sat  back  and  went  over 
in  his  mind  (doubly  clear  under  the  light  of  this 
unexpected  fear)  the  possibilities  of  the  situation. 
That  the  Italian  had  seen  her  after  receiving  a 
note  from  her  was  certain,  and  that  in  some  way 
she  felt  bound  to  him,  also  that  she  was  not  happy 
in  that  bondage.  Or  was  it  the  first  mad  revolt 
of  every  caged  bird,  later  on,  to  feed  content- 
edly from  the  hand  that  closed  the  door?  Bent 
on  a  certain  course  of  action  upon  which  he  finally 
decided,  he  remarked  coldly: 

"We  shall  miss  the  ceremony  unless  we  go  at 
once."  He  gave  a  quick  order  to  the  sendo,  and 
the  sampan  lumbered  forward  clumsily. 

She  watched  him  with  furtive  eyes,  aghast  at 
his  sudden  reserve  and  coldness.  She  longed  for 

195 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

his  love  and  sympathy,  upon  which  she  had  so  long 
unconsciously  counted,  but  from  which  she  felt  for- 
ever estranged;  looking  at  her  turpitude  with  the 
morbid  exaggeration  of  any  pure  young  girl  in  her 
first  shocked  contact  with  the  brutal  side  of  things, 
from  which  the  men  who  had  hitherto  loved  her 
had  been  the  first  to  screen  her.  Her  desire  for 
Robb's  love  battened  upon  the  renunciation  of  it. 

His  loud  cheerful  tones  broke  in  upon  her 
reverie : 

"Here  we  are,  Miss  Talty!  There  are  the 
boats,  over  there  on  the  right.  See  the  food  piled 
In  little  heaps  ?  I  believe  the  idea  is  that  the  souls 
of  the  dead  after  being  ashore  for  three  days,  re- 
turn to-night  to  their  abode,  and  food  is  placed 
there  for  the  mysterious  voyage.  You  see  in  these 
overpopulated,  old  countries  the  struggle  for  food 
is  tremendous.  So  it  comes  about  that  it  represents 
the  most  precious  of  all  gifts,  and  upon  that  is 
founded  so  many  of  the  Japanese  and  Chinese 
festivals — or  rather  the  form  that  tribute  takes  to 
both  the  living  and  dead  in  such  celebrations." 

The  more  he  expounded  the  less  interested  she 
became.  On  he  went  relentlessly: 

"In  the  old  days  these  'dead-boats'  used  to  be 
piled  also  with  the  lights  brought  down  from  the 

196 


THE    FEAST    OF    LANTERNS 

graves,  but  there  was  a  serious  kerosene  fire  once 
in  the  harbor,  and  the  authorities  put  a  stop  to  it; 
and  so  much  of  the  picturesqueness  has  gone.  The 
boats  used  to  float  off,  manned  only  by  the  dis- 
embodied, at  the  mercy  of  wind  and  tide,  and  many 
strange  things  happened  supposed  to  be  full  of 
symbolic  significance.  Does  it  interest  you  at  all? 
Or  are  you  disappointed?" 

She  could  not  answer  him,  so  deep  was  her  re- 
sentment of  his  tone  and  manner. 

"Are  you  disappointed?"  he  repeated,  pretend- 
ing to  see  nothing  subjective  in  her  grieved  silence. 
She  suddenly  sank  down  upon  the  seat.  Keeping 
his  eyes  out  upon  the  little  flotilla  of  boats,  he 
went  on  talking  about  his  few  facts  and  many 
fancies  regarding  the  Matsuri  before  them.  He 
gave  a  whispered  order  to  the  sendo  in  the  stern 
of  the  boat,  who  thereupon  walked  forward. 
Then  Robb  heard  the  soft  sound  of  a  woman 
weeping  down  beneath  him  in  the  darkness, 
but  still  he  held  himself  erect — she  should 
be  disciplined — she  should  be  forced  to  tell  him 
all  there  was  to  tell  before  she  slept  that  night! 
She  was  in  some  psychical  tangle  and  needed  him, 
and  she  should  ask  for  his  aid  before  seven 
bells. 

197 


PEACE   AND    THE   VICES 

Not  until  he  began  to  whistle  softly  did  she 
succumb. 

"Oh,  Doctor!"  was  all  he  caught,  but  less  even 
than  that  piteous  reproach  would  have  brought 
him  to  his  knees  beside  her. 

"Yes,  dear — tell  me  all,  I  feel  sure  I  can  help 
you." 

She  waited  a  moment  clinging  to  his  arm  and 
fighting  down  her  sobs  that  she  might  speak. 

"I'm  going  to  be  perfectly  frank  and  tell  you 
something,  Doctor  Robb,  and  then  I — I'll  go  out 
of  your  life  forever." 

"We'll  see  about  that  later — just  tell  me  first, 
please,  like  a  good  little  girl." 

"You  see,  I  could  never  have  told  you  like  this 
boldly,  brazenly " 

"Quite  so,"  he  interjected. 

" — if  it  was  not  for  the  impassable  barrier  be- 
tween us." 

"Naturally,"  he  was  quite  at  his  ease  now  but 
so  unprepared  for  her  next  words  that  from  that 
hour  he  ceased  to  claim  any  but  the  slightest 
knowledge  of  feminine  nature. 

"I  have  discovered,  Doctor,  in  a  strange,  strange 
way,  that — Leigh!  I  know  now,  I'm  sure  of  it! 
At  last  I  know  that  I  love — you !"  There  was  a 

198 


THE    FEAST    OF    LANTERNS 

moment  of  confusion,  the  silence  only  broken  by 
smothered  ejaculations  in  a  man's  voice,  roughened 
by  deep  feeling.  Then  her  voice  arose  from  it, 
sharp  with  excitement: 

"Do  not  touch  me!  You  misunderstand!  I 
told  you  there  was  something  forever  between  us — 
listen  to  me.  Oh,  let  me  go!  You  must  know 
that  but  for  that,  and  that  I  thought  you  fully 
understood  it,  I  would  have  died  rather  than  tell 
you  such  a  thing!"  She  tried  to  rise,  pushing  him 
from  her  with  a  strange  strength. 

"And  the  barrier?"  he  panted.  She  was  silent. 
His  nimble  mind  darted  right  and  left  in  search 
of  enlightenment;  but  she  had  admitted  her  love, 
nothing  else  counted  henceforth,  people  and  cir- 
cumstances should  bend  like  reeds  before  his  will. 

To  keep  down  his  great  exultation  was  now  his 
task,  as  the  sampan  sped  homeward,  and  the 
lights  on  the  hills  dropped  one  by  one  into  the 
well  of  darkness.  Only  the  lamps  of  the  sky 
burned  on  steadfastly,  far  above  the  little  fret  of 
life  below. 

"If  I  were  the  flaccid  hero  of  an  analytical 
novel,  Adele,  I'd  say  with  a  tearful  eye  on  the 
evening  star :  'All  is  over !  I  accept  my  fate.  The 
occultism  of  your  silence  parts  us  forever.'  And 

199 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

I'd  sail  away  and  you'd  marry  the  other  fellow. 
Not  on  your  life !  You've  said  the  one  important 
thing  to-night  and  I'm  here  to  stay!" 

Her  reply  was  that  of  an  extremely  injured 
person : 

"It  seems  strange  to  me  that  when  you  used  to 
be  serious  I  always  laughed,  and  now  I  am  terribly 
in  earnest  you  are  suddenly  very  jocund!  If  you 
cannot  take  me  seriously  I  shall  not  speak  again." 

"So  long  as  I  do  take  you,  it  shall  be  any  old 
way  you  like,  dear." 

There  is  no  insult  like  an  ill-timed  optimism, 
and  for  the  first  time  in  her  life  she  felt  resentful 
of  mirth  and  humor,  such  miracles  does  love 
work! 

"I  bought  something  at  the  price  of  my — integ- 
rity!" she  suddenly  was  goaded  into  saying. 

"That's  a  very  high  price  for  anything  I've  seen 
in  Nagasaki."  Then  he  added  quickly: 

"Does  that  mean  you  are  engaged  to  that 
— to  the  Italian?" 

"No,  no!     I'd  rather  die!" 

"Naturally,  anybody  would,"  and  he  burst  into 
sudden  loud  ringing  laughter,  now  sure  of  the 
evening's  end. 

She  breathed  quickly,  deeply,  and  struck  her 
200 


THE    FEAST    OF    LANTERNS 

hands  together  passionately,  roused  at  last  to  a 
beautiful  fury: 

"Oh,  you  may  laugh  and  joke  when  I  tell  you 
that  my  honor  is  smirched,  that  my  heart  is 
broken,  and  that  just  at  the  moment  that  I  begin 
to  love  you,  I  must  not!  If  you  find  all 
that  funny,  go  on  laughing — but  take  me  home, 
take  me  home,  at  once!  I  know  from  this  that 
you  are  a  hard,  cruel  man,  and  I  should  have  soon 
learned  to  hate  you.  It's  just  as  well  I've  found 
it  out  in  time.  I  am  thankful !"  He  shook  with 
inward  laughter  and  said  not  a  word,  now  sitting 
beside  her,  his  hands  together  before  him — 
waiting. 

"You  shall  hear  now,  I'll  spare  you  nothing! 
And  then  laugh  if  you  can!  He — he  wants  to 
marry  me — he " 

"Can't  blame  him  for  that,"  his  dry  tone 
brought  from  her  a  sudden  choked  cry : 

"He — he  kissed  me — odiously." 

"Then  it  was  against  your  will?"  came  quickly 
from  Robb  in  quite  another  tone. 

"Leigh!"  was  all  she  said,  but  it  was  all  he 
needed.  He  comprehended  in  a  flash  of  intuition 
that  he  had  no  higher  wall  to  vault  than  the  dear 
child's  innocence  of  life's  real  values,  in  order  to 

reach  his  heaven. 

201 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

He  waited  a  moment,  as  it  were,  putting  off  his 
shoes  at  the  door  of  the  holy  temple;  then  very 
gently  he  placed  his  arms  about  her  and  drew  her 
to  him  and  whispered  in  her  ear.  After  a  fruitless 
effort  she  found  she  was  absolutely  helpless. 

"My  blessed  one,  do  you  suppose  for  one  in- 
stant I'm  going  to  let  this  mood  of  yours — any 
mood — settle  the  question  of  our  happiness  ?  Yes, 
dear,  I  know,  I  know — I  do  understand.  And 
shall  I  tell  you  what  it  says  to  me,  this  little  soul 
tragedy  of  yours  ?  It  shows  me  the  spotless  purity 
of  your  heart,  the  fine  integrity  of  your  woman- 
hood, the  cleanness  of  your  very  soul,  my  sweet- 
heart. And  I  but  honor  you  ten  times  the  more 
for  it,  and  feel  ten  times  the  less  worthy  of  you." 
She  was  now  crying  softly  against  his  broad  breast, 
clinging  like  a  tired  child.  He  stroked  her  hair 
with  the  gentlest  touch  she  had  ever  known,  and 
had  the  instinct  to  offer  no  further  caress. 

"There,  there,  poor  little  girl!  It's  a  sad,  old, 
naughty  world,  isn't  it?  I  said  you'd  come  to 
me  some  day,  do  you  remember?  Hereafter  count 
no  words  of  mine  empty,  Mrs.  Robb!  Now, 
there's  no  use  in  your  struggling  like  that — you 
are  going  to  be  my  wife.  Wicked  as  you  un- 
doubtedly are,  I  want  you.  It's  a  great  relief  to 

202 


THE    FEAST    OF    LANTERNS 

my  mind  to  find  that,  after  all,  you  are  not  per- 
fect !  Adele,  must  I  wait  till  the  end  of  this  cruise  ? 
Must  I?"  She  did  not  answer,  but  he  pretended 
she  did,  and  went  on  with  a  tenderness  she  had  not 
dreamed  his  voice  capable  of: 

"Well,  if  you  say  I  must,  I  suppose  I'll  have 
to  somehow.  Oh,  my  darling,  the  joy,  joy,  joy, 
of  this  moment,"  he  burst  out  suddenly.  A  broken 
word  from  her  made  him  stoop,  listening. 

"No,  Adele,  not  one  more  word  about  it  to- 
night. You  are  a  good,  true,  little  woman  under- 
neath all  your — deviltries — alas!  no  less  a  word 
expresses  it.  I  want  you  to  go  home  at  peace  and 
happy  as  you  can  be  after  flinging  yourself  away 
like  this  on  a  good-for-nothing,  poverty-stricken 
Naval  surgeon,  whose  support  will  assure  you 
nothing  but  picturesque  starvation  to  the  end  of 
your  days.  Come  to  think  of  it,  it's  the  only  down- 
right unintelligent  thing  I  ever  knew  you  to 
do,  Adele  Talty!  I  confess,  I'm  a  little  disap- 
pointed in  you." 

At  last  the  dear,  sweet  laugh  he  had  been  listen- 
ing for  rippled  out  and  he  knew  that  he  had  won. 

The  boatmen  still  panted  out  their  ceaseless 
sibilation. 

Then  the  American  flagship  struck  seven  bells 
203 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

with  Yankee  smartness,  the  Russian  followed  with 
ponderous  dignity,  and  all  the  others  tumbled  into 
line  here  and  there  over  the  bay,  and  sang  their 
little  songs  of  sleepless  vigilance. 

And  then  they  reached  the  landing,  and  walked 
up  the  hill  through  the  silent  streets  to  "Ippon 
Matsu."  She  did  not  speak,  but  just  clung  to  his 
arm  and  gave  now  and  then  a  low  happy  laugh 
as  he  doctored  her  wounded  soul.  At  the  door 
he  coaxed  a  little,  and  she  yielded  and  put  her 
arms  up  about  his  neck,  and  repeated  the  words 
he  had  dictated,  and — then  Mammy  opened  the 
door. 


204 


CHAPTER   XII 

THE   COURT-MARTIAL   CONVENES 

"  Now  let  it  work  :  Mischief,  thou  art  afoot." 

AT  eight  o'clock  the  next  morning  the  various 
men-of-war  lying  in  the  harbor  gently 
asserted  their  several  nationalities  by  a  simul- 
taneous slow  hoisting  of  flags  to  the  different  staffs; 
as  if  a  bed  of  sleeping  tulips,  awakened  by  the 
sun,  had  bloomed  forth  into  many  colors.  The 
American,  German  and  Russian  bands  on  the  flag- 
ships played  their  national  airs,  each  its  own  first 
and  then  that  of  Japan,  followed  by  that  of  all 
the  ships-of-war  present,  according  to  the  rank  of 
the  admirals.  The  result  of  which  courteous 
interchange  of  peaceful  amenities  made  for  much 
musical  strife,  from  which  the  Russian  hymn  rose 
triumphant  by  its  very  simplicity.  During  this 
ceremony,  the  men  and  officers  of  the  American  flag- 
ship stood  at  petrified  attention,  facing  aft,  ending 
with  a  jaunty  salute  when  the  great  fair-weather 
ensign  reached  the  top  of  the  flagstaff. 

205 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

About  twenty  minutes  before  ten  o'clock  a 
boat  from  each  of  the  other  two  American  ships 
put  off  and  headed  for  their  flagship,  and  their 
freight  of  officers  met  and  was  discharged  on  the 
starboard  side.  They  greeted  one  another  with 
jocular  familiarity  as  they  ran  up  the  gangway  to 
the  deck,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  their  uni- 
forms of  frock-coat  and  side-arms  indicated  an 
occasion  of  more  than  ordinary  ceremony. 

As  they  stepped  up  on  the  quarter-deck  the 
shrill  pipe  of  the  boatswain's  whistle,  the  lining 
up  of  the  "side-boys"  standing  at  salute,  further 
denoted  the  status  of  the  visitors,  now  frozen  into 
stiff  observance. 

A  few  moments  before  ten  o'clock  they,  with 
others,  were  chatting  together  standing  about  a 
long  table  in  the  captain's  cabin.  There  were  two 
smaller  tables,  at  one  of  which  was  a  stenogra- 
pher; beside  this,  to  the  right,  was  placed  a  single 
chair;  the  other  table  had  two  empty  chairs  behind 
it.  A  young  lieutenant  of  Marines  acted  as  pro- 
vost marshal  at  the  door. 

As  the  quick  ringing  of  four  bells  ceased,  Cap- 
tain Penny  rapped  on  the  table,  saying: 

"The  Court  will  come  to  order!" 

All  conversation  stopped  instantly,  and  out  over 
206 


THE    COURT-MARTIAL    CONVENES 

the  harbor  rang  the  sharp  report  of  one  of  the 
flagship's  six-pounders,  and  the  Union  Jack  was 
"broken"  from  the  signal-yard,  telling  all  the 
world  that  Kent  Fellowes'  supreme  hour  of  humil- 
iation had  come. 

Captain  Penny,  the  president  of  the  Court,  a 
small  man  with  a  large,  slow,  dignified  bearing, 
seated  himself  at  the  upper  end  of  the  long  table, 
and  the  other  members  ranged  themselves  down 
either  side,  according  to  rank.  At  the  foot  was 
the  judge-advocate,  Lieutenant  Commander  Hop- 
kins, prosecuting  officer,  a  tall,  very  thin  man  with 
a  nervous  manner. 

In  a  level,  official  tone  the  president  said: 
"The  judge-advocate  will  proceed." 
Hopkins  arose  and  in  his  long-skilled  hands  the 
many   details  of  the   organization  of  a   military 
tribunal  went  speedily  forward.     Then  an  order 
was  given  to  the  provost  marshal  and  a  pause  fol- 
lowed. 

The  door  finally  opened  and  Lieutenant  Fel- 
lowes, followed  by  his  counsel,  Dr.  Robb  (both 
in  undress  uniform),  slowly  entered  and  walked  to 
their  assigned  table  to  the  right  of,  and  somewhat 
behind,  the  judge-advocate. 

Fellowes'  pale,  almost  emaciated,  face  and  the 
207 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

unutterable  anguish  in  his  eyes,  from  which  youth 
seemed  forever  fled,  sent  a  thrill  around  the  table 
and  the  men  shifted  their  positions  uneasily. 

After  being  himself  sworn  by  the  president,  the 
judge  advocate  took  the  Bible  from  the  table,  and 
holding  it  at  arm's-length,  the  members  of  the 
Court  gathered  in  a  circle  about  him,  each  placing 
a  hand  on  the  outstretched  book.  Then  the  oath 
was  administered  to  them  all  by  the  judge-advo- 
cate, who  repeated  in  a  solemn  voice : 

"  'You  do  swear  that  you  will  truly  try,  with- 
out prejudice  or  partiality,  the  case  now  depend- 
ing, according  to  the  evidence  which  shall  come 
before  the  Court,  the  Rules  for  the  Government 
of  the  Navy,  and  your  own  conscience;  that  you 
will  not,  by  any  means,  divulge  or  disclose  the 
sentence  of  the  Court  until  it  shall  have  been  ap- 
proved by  the  proper  authority ;  and  that  you  will 
not,  at  any  time,  divulge  or  disclose  the  vote  or 
opinion  of  any  particular  member  of  the  Court, 
unless  required  so  to  do  before  a  court  of  justice 
in  due  course  of  law?' ' 

"I  do,"  each  voice  gravely  replied,  with  that 
marked  variety  in  pitch  that  bears  witness  to  the 
miracle  of  nature's  taste  for  multiformity  in  all 
created  things. 

208 


THE    COURT-MARTIAL    CONVENES 

The  Court  in  secret  session  having  pronounced 
the  charges  "correct  and  in  due  form,"  the 
judge-advocate  turned  to  the  accused  officer,  and 
said: 

"Are  you  ready  for  the  trial?" 

"I  am,"  came  the  low  reply. 

"Please  stand  up." 

Fellowes  arose  so  slowly  from  his  chair  that  for 
an  instant  they  thought  him  physically  overcome, 
and  Robb  leaned  quickly  forward  and  spoke  to 
him  in  a  low  tone. 

The  judge-advocate  then  read  in  an  impressive 
voice  the  endless  repetitions  in  the  charges  and 
specifications.  Fellowes  stood  motionless  until  the 
end,  only  putting  out  one  hand  involuntarily  when 
the  arraignment  began,  and  the  sound  of  his  own 
name  nailed  down  upon  him  the  forerunning 
charges. 

Hopkins  paused  a  moment  to  give  the  accused 
a  chance  to  recover  himself,  and  then  proceeded: 

"Lieutenant  Kent  Fellowes,  United  States 
Navy,  you  have  heard  the  charges  and  the  specifi- 
cations of  charges  preferred  against  you,  how  say 
you  to  the  first  charge — guilty  or  not  guilty?" 

Again  there  was  that  curious  hesitation  as  of  a 
man  forced  to  do  something  against  his  own  ap- 

209 


PEACE   AND    THE    VICES 

probation,  then  plainly  yielding  to  a  low-toned  re- 
monstrance from  his  counsel,  Fellowes  answered 
faintly : 

"Not  guilty." 

The  judge-advocate's  high  disquieting  voice 
went  through  each  charge  and  specification,  ending 
each  time  with  the  cadenced  query: 

"How  say  you,  guilty  or  not  guilty?" 

And  each  time  with  ever-rising  protest,  Fel- 
lowes looked  into  his  counsel's  dominating  eyes 
and  answered: 

"Not  guilty." 

When  this  was  over,  Hopkins,  after  a  sharp 
scrutiny  of  Kent's  face,  and  reading  there  a  more 
than  ordinary  strain  under  arraignment,  asked  for 
a  recess. 

The  Court  relaxed  at  once  into  smiles  and 
banter.  Such  of  the  members  as  were  old  friends 
or  quondam  shipmates  of  the  accused,  went  up  to 
him,  held  out  their  hands  warmly,  talking  of  old 
cruises  on  other  stations,  or  inquiring  for  his  wife, 
expressing  a  hope  soon  to  pay  their  respects.  A 
casual  on-looker  dropping  in  would  have  had  some 
difficulty,  for  the  moment,  in  pointing  out  the 
man,  in  that  small  assembly,  who  was  on  trial  for 
his  commission. 

2IO 


THE    COURT-MARTIAL    CONVENES 

Again  Captain  Penny's  deep  bass  rumbled  out: 

"The  Court  will  come  to  order,"  and  once  more 
the  room  became  a  scene  of  military  solemnity  un- 
matched in  Naval  life. 

The  first  witness  for  the  government  was  the 
executive  officer  of  the  "Boston,"  who,  sitting  in 
the  lone  chair  to  the  right  of  the  now  busy  stenog- 
rapher, testified  that  he  had  on  August  first,  at 
twenty  minutes  past  one  o'clock,  given  Lieutenant 
Fellowes  permission  to  go  ashore  and  remain  till 
quarters  on  August  second. 

He  was  followed  by  the  officer  of  the  deck,  who 
saw  him  go  over  the  side.  The  third  witness  was 
Lieutenant  Nugent,  who  had  the  deck  when  Kent 
returned  to  the  ship. 

Every  man  in  the  room  felt  a  throb  of  emotion 
at  Nugent's  really  very  unimportant  testimony, 
such  was  his  evident  reluctance  and  deep  pain  at 
being  compelled  by  his  oath  to  add  so  much  as  a 
straw  to  his  old  friend's  disgrace.  He  sat  in  the 
witness'  chair,  his  very  ruddy  face  bowed,  his  eyes 
on  the  carpet,  the  picture  of  helpless  guilt,  expect- 
ing no  mercy,  asking  for  none.  When  his  brief 
role  was  over,  he  turned  and  fled  with  so  precipi- 
tate a  clatter,  that  one  of  those  smiles  rooted  in 
tears  ran  around  the  long  table. 

211 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

The  judge-advocate  then  exhibited  the  "  Bos- 
ton's" log  of  August  second,  wherein  was  entered 
Fellowes'  absence  without  leave;  and  in  the  entry 
of  each  four  hours  of  watch  through  all  those  five 
days,  in  relentless  repetition,  appeared  the  same 
statement:  "Lieutenant  Fellowes  absent  without 
leave." 

As  each  witness  finished  his  direct  testimony, 
Doctor  Robb  arose  and  said: 

"I  do  not  wish  to  cross-examine  the  witness." 

At  this  point  it  was  evident  that  the  prosecution 
was  about  to  play  its  trump  card.  The  presi- 
dent relaxed  nothing  of  his  ponderous  dignity,  but 
the  great  ennui  in  his  face  quickened  with  interest, 
and  he  leaned  forward  against  his  folded  hands 
laid  on  the  table. 

Hopkins'  tense  face  remasked  itself  with  an 
added  decision.  He  drummed  on  the  table  ner- 
vously and  looked  at  his  watch  with  an  irrelevant 
scowl;  then  bringing  his  hand  down  sharply  on 
the  bell  beside  him,  he  said  to  the  provost  marshal, 
who  instantly  appeared: 

"Call  Doctor  D'Estrees." 

Fellowes'  eyes  turned  and  clung  to  his  counsel's 
with  almost  hypnotic  intensity.  Leaning  forward 
he  whispered:  "As  he  has  consented  to  testify  I 

212 


THE    COURT-MARTIAL    CONVENES 

am  lost!  I  lied  for  nothing!"  Into  Robb's  mind 
was  coming  a  slow  illumination  of  many  things, 
with  Adele  conspicuous  and  in  high  light,  and  he 
answered:  "Courage !  He's  of  the  genus  venal — 
that  man — unless  I'm  all  astray!"  Kent  stared 
with  no  comprehension  in  his  strained  eyes. 

The  door  opened  and  every  eye  in  the  court- 
room turned  toward  it,  as  D'Estrees  entered 
swiftly  and  then  stood  with  his  heels  together, 
bowing.  Coming  forward  with  his  usual  rapid 
movements,  he  once  more  paused  nearer  the 
tribunal,  bowing  low  to  Captain  Penny,  whose 
rank  his  quick  eye  properly  estimated,  if  his  tongue 
purposely  overstated: 

"Admiral — gentlemen !" 

They  automatically  acknowledged  his  effective 
greeting,  grateful  for  this  touch  of  drama  entering 
into  the  midst  of  dry  conventions. 

D'Estrees  was  immaculate  in  white  flannel  with 
a  red  carnation  in  his  button-hole;  a  small  black 
loose  tie  at  the  throat,  his  broad  cummerbund  of 
folds  of  black  silk  taking  the  place  of  a  waistcoat 
according  to  Far  Eastern  canons. 

Tucking  his  thumbs  into  his  sash  he  waited,  look- 
ing about  smiling,  his  unnaturally  brilliant  eyes 
taking  inventory  of  a  scene  very  much  to  his  taste ; 

213 


PEACE   AND   THE   VICES 

the  very  apotheosis  of  prosperous  complacency  and 
immense  physical  and  mental  vitality. 

Robb  felt  every  muscle  in  his  body  tingle  as  he 
looked  at  him — remembering — and  one  of  those 
strong  primitive  instincts,  familiar  to  every 
healthy  man,  swept  over  him:  a  longing  for  the 
Italian's  sole  society,  space,  air,  and  no  favor. 

The  whole  Court  was  now  roused  out  of  its 
lethargy,  responsive  to  the  magnetism  of  the 
Italian  who  was  as  aware  of  the  effect  he  produced 
as  he  was  of  everything  else  once  within  his  cor- 
rosive vision. 

The  judge  advocate's  voice  broke  the  silence, 
looking  over  the  resplendent  witness'  head  in  proof 
of  entire  disaffection. 

"The  president  of  the  Court,  Captain  Penny,  will 
administer  the  oath,  Doctor  D'Estrees." 

The  witness  ran  his  keen  eyes  about  the  room, 
then  one  hand  went  to  his  Indian  sash  and  he 
briskly  pulled  therefrom  a  large  paper,  which  he 
unfolded  with  a  slap  of  the  other  hand,  and  with 
a  step  backward  from  the  table  he  addressed  the 
president,  colloquially,  volubly,  the  degree  of  his 
accent  varying  with  his  excitement: 

"I  have  brought  weet  me  thees  summons,  I  pre- 
sume you  call  eet,  and  I  would  much  li-i-ke  the 

214 


THE    COURT-MARTIAL    CONVENES 

honor  to  retain  eet,  both  for  the  very  great  beauty 
of  the  coat-of-arms  of  your  most  esteemed  country, 
and  al-so  as  a  memento  of  thees  honorable  occa- 
sion. I  have  the  pair-meesion,  yes?"  Ignoring 
the  cross-fire  of  glaring  glances  levelled  at  him  from 
the  outraged  president  and  extremely  nettled 
judge  advocate,  the  paper  was  again  folded  and 
restored  to  its  snug  place  against  his  rotund  form. 
The  eyes  of  the  less  responsible  members  of  the 
Court  gleamed  with  expectation. 

Fellowes  leaned  forward,  his  elbow  on  his  knee, 
his  hand  supporting  his  head.  This  introduction 
of  the  burlesque  was  torture  to  him  beyond  all 
bearing. 

When  the  president  arose,  determined  to  put  an 
effectual  end  to  this  buffoonery,  and  held  the  Bible 
out  to  D'Estrees,  the  latter' s  flexible  hand  went  up 
in  one  of  those  complex  gestures  of  Latin  nega- 
tion, and  he  cried: 

"Oh,  no!  I  take  no  oath.  Eet  ees  very  far 
from  my  weesh  to  ex-pose  myself  to  the  unknown 
terrors  of  American  law.  No,  no,  no — not  that! 
Eef  however  there  be  some  questions  the  honorable 
Court " 

A  sharp  rap  brought  the  harangue  to  a  close 
and  the  Court  to  much-needed  order. 

215 


PEACE   AND    THE   VICES 

The  judge  advocate's  voice  went  through  them 
like  a  jagged  knife,  after  the  indescribable  mellow- 
ness of  the  Italian's. 

"I  call  the  witness  to  order!  You  are  here  to 
answer  questions.  Your  replies  are  worthless  un- 
less you  are  previously  sworn,  sir." 

uEes  eet  so?  Par-don,  I  regret  I  cannot  breeng 
myself  to  the  point  of  agreement.  I  am  here,  sir, 
because  I  choose  to  come,  no  more,  no  less!  You 
have  no  jurisdiction  over  me.  I  am  an  Italian 
subject.  We  are  weethin  treaty  leemits  of  the  Em- 
pire of  Japan,  are  we  nort,  gentlemen?" 

"This  is  American  soil  I'll  have  you  understand, 
sir,  as  long  as  that  flag  is  above  us!"  the  judge 
advocate  made  the  mistake  of  saying.  The  shrug 
that  D'Estrees  gave  was  of  no  top-soil  growth, 
but  was  deeply  rooted  in  generations  of  the  most 
dramatic  people  on  earth. 

"Again  I  mos'  ask  the  pardon  of  the  honorable 
Court.  The  soil  under  these  two  feet — "  a  quick 
stamp  left  no  doubt  as  to  his  meaning — "ees  Ital- 
ian, here  afloat,  there  ashore,  always  Italian !  You 
can  compel  me  to  do  northing  I  do  nort  weesh  to 
do.  I  do  nort  weesh  to  take  your  oath — so — I  do 
nort  take  eet!  Am  I  plen?  But  as  I  have  said 

already,  sir,  eef " 

216 


THE    COURT-MARTIAL    CONVENES 

The  president  rapped,  an  intermission  followed 
during  which  he  and  the  judge  advocate  consulted 
apart.  D'Estrees  started  toward  Fellowes  smiling 
and  with  extended  hands,  but  experienced  a  check 
by  the  prompt  interposition  of  the  provost  mar- 
shal. Apparently  an  informal  court,  within  its 
seemingly  flexible  lines,  there  lay  laws  of  iron; 
there  must  be  no  intercourse  between  a  witness  and 
the  accused. 

Robb  walked  away  and  stood  with  his  back 
turned  to  the  room,  looking  at  a  large  photograph 
of  the  flag-ship  taken  as  her  colors  were  raised  on  her 
first  commission.  With  this  before  his  eyes,  one 
must  dive  under  the  surface  to  discover  why  he 
muttered  to  himself: 

"He  is  bought  to  the  soul!  He  is  working  for 
a  reward;  and  that  reward  is  Adele!" 

Again  the  court-room  came  to  order,  and  the 
judge  advocate  turned  once  more  to  the  impertur- 
bable witness  and  said  sternly: 

"Doctor  D'Estrees,  some  days  ago  in  your  own 
office  you  told  Captain  Pehoe  of  the  "Boston"  that 
you  would  testify  on  charge  second  and  specifica- 
tion in  the  case  of  Lieutenant  Fellowes,  you  re- 
peated the  same  thing  to  me  day  before  yesterday. 
What  is  the  meaning  of  this  sudden  change  of  at- 

217 


PEACE   AND   THE   VICES 

titude  toward  this  Court?"  Robb's  heart  thumped 
violently  and  the  blood  rushed  to  his  face  during 
the  slight  pause  which  followed.  Since  his  short 
talk  with  Captain  Penny  during  the  intermission, 
the  judge  advocate's  voice  and  manner  were  some- 
what moderated.  In  recognition  of  which,  the 
witness  replied  in  his  friendliest  tone : 

"Every  word  you  have  said,  sir,  ees  true,  ex- 
actly as  you  have  stated.  I  deespute  northing,  but 
the  question  of  the  oath  was  nort  discossed  be- 
tween us,  and  of  course  all  thees  meelitary  pro- 
cedure ees  new  to  me.  But  I  have  an  uncontrolla- 
ble disgost  for  an  oath.  Eet  ees  qui-i-te  weetout 
value,  sir.  A  man  of  honor  does  nort  need  eet, 
a  man  of  no  honor  does  nort  respect  eet.  My 
testimony  een  thees  case  ees  at  your  disposal,  but 
my  pride  forbids  the  oath,  of  which  I  am  surprised 
to  find  you  make  so  moch." 

Captain  Penny's  rough  bass  intervened  before 
the  judge  advocate's  obvious  irascibility  found 
vent: 

"Doctor  D'Estrees,  you  have,  as  I  understand 
it,  come  here  of  your  own  free  will,  in  obedi- 
ence to  summons  legally  issued  by  the  judge  ad- 
vocate of  this  Court,  and  now  you  refuse  to  tes- 
tify." 

218 


THE    COURT-MARTIAL    CONVENES 

The  Latin  pantomimed  fury  finally  controlled 
before  he  replied: 

"Your  excellency,  I  do  nort  refuse  to  testify. 
I  am  here  for  that  purpose  alone.  I  have  made 
myself  plen,  I  theenk,  on  that  point;  but  I  am  a 
very  busy  man,  matters  of  some  moment  await 
me  now — I  must  ask  for  more  speed,  eef  you 
please.  I  cannort  repeat  again  and  again  the  sem 
theeng." 

"The  court  will  be  cleared!"  thundered  out 
Captain  Penny,  "and  Doctor  D'Estrees  will  oblige 
the  Court  by  awaiting  its  decision." 

The  obstinate  witness  unconcernedly  bowed  with 
something  very  like  triumph  in  his  eyes. 

Everyone  left  the  court-room  except  the  seven 
members,  the  doors  were  closed  by  the  provost 
marshal  and  a  sentry  was  placed  over  them. 

As  Fellowes  and  Robb  left  the  room,  the  latter 
said  with  undisguised  exultation : 

"Old  fellow,  your  commission  is  as  safe  as  a 
church!" 

"I  do  not  understand  it,  I  do  not  understand 
it  I"  repeated  Kent  in  dull  wonder. 

The  buzz  of  conversation  outside  was  soon  in- 
terrupted by  the  muffled  sound  of  a  bell  in  the 
court-room,  and  the  marshal  announced: 

219 


PEACE   AND   THE   VICES 

"The  Court  is  open."  They  filed  in,  and  as 
soon  as  it  was  quiet  the  president  said  : 

"The  Court  decides  that  Doctor  Teodoro 
D'Estrees  is  not  within  its  jurisdiction,  and  directs 
that  he  be  discharged." 

As  he  said  the  last  word  Admiral  Titterington's 
orderly  appeared  at  the  door  and  addressed  the 
judge  advocate: 

"Captain  Pehoe's  compliments,  sir,  and  will 
Doctor  D'Estrees  please  step  into  the  admiral's 
cabin  before  he  leaves  the  ship?" 

"Doctor  D'Estrees,  you  heard  the  message. 
Will  you  please  see  Captain  Pehoe  before  you 
leave  the  ship?"  repeated  Hopkins,  putting  as 
much  dispraise  into  his  tone  as  he  well  could  in  so 
commonplace  a  sentence. 

"Weet  moch  pleasure.  Your  excellency,  gentle- 
men, I  have  the  honor  to  bid  you  good-morn- 
ing." 

The  broad  back  of  the  recalcitrant  witness  had 
scarcely  disappeared,  when  Hopkins  arose  and  said 
rapidly : 

"May  it  please  the  Court,  I  am  not  ready  to 
proceed;  and  I  would  ask  the  Court  to  adjourn 
until  to-morrow  morning." 

"The  Court  is  adjourned  until  ten  to-morrow 
220 


THE    COURT-MARTIAL   CONVENES 

morning.      The    uniform    will    be    service-dress, 
white." 

Fellowes  left  the  cabin  and  ship  at  once,  return- 
ing directly  to  his  ship,  the  provost  marshal  beside 
him ;  and  in  half  an  hour  every  man  in  the  squadron 
had  heard  some  distorted  story  of  the  morning, 
which  grew  with  each  repetition,  until  between- 
decks  on  the  "Boston,"  "old  Dennis,"  the  best  gun- 
captain  in  the  fleet  (and  as  sober  as  he  ever  was 
except  at  target  practice)  swore  to  another  jacky 
that  the  Italian  was  at  that  moment  in  irons  on 
the  flag-ship  for  insubordination  to  the  admiral; 
ending  with: 

"And  it's  thim  dudes  loike  the  prisent  com- 
mander-in-chief  that's  holy  terrors  whin  they  do 
be  started,  moind  that,  me  lad !  And  it's  the  I-tal- 
ian  has  me  respectful  sympathy." 

Which  was  so  far  from  the  facts,  that  at  that 
very  moment  D'Estrees,  flushed  and  exulting,  was 
walking  down  the  deck  of  the  flag-ship  laughing 
to  himself.  Returning  the  salute  of  the  officer 
of  the  deck,  he  ran  lightly  down  the  gangway  and 
got  into  his  own  launch,  waiting  below.  As  it 
puffed  its  way  across  the  bay,  he  slapped  his  knees 
with  both  hands  and  laughed  aloud,  muttering  in 
Italian,  safe  in  his  isolation: 

221 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

"Dio  mio,  but  it  has  been  a  great  morning! 
They  can  do  nothing,  absolutely  nothing.  They 
threaten,  they  cajole,  they  rage  at  me — and  I  ?  I 
laugh  in  their  pale  faces.  The  men  of  this  race 
I  hate,  but  the  women — esto  perpetual"  The 
doctor's  eyes  flew  up  the  green  hills  to  "Ippon 
Matsu,"  in  smiling  tribute,  and  then  he  added: 
"The  little  Adelai'da,  she  will  thank  me — how  can 
I  wait?  Oh,  but  you  always  had  a  good  head, 
Teodoro !" 


222 


CHAPTER    XIII 

A   TEN   O'CLOCK   GUN 

"Give  sorrow  words." 

UNDER  the  shadow  of  "Ippon  Matsu"  they 
had  all  united  in  the  attempt  to  keep  Dora 
in  ignorance  of  much  that  was  going  on  down  in 
the  harbor  below,  sparing  her  pride  even  to  the 
straining  of  the  truth.  But  a  letter  had  reached  her 
the  day  before  the  Court  met,  from  Imogen,  con- 
taining these  words: 

"You  poor  thing!  We  all  feel  so  sorry  for  you 
over  here.  Yesterday  Mrs.  Titterington  said  she 
could  not  imagine  anything  more  awful  than  for 
you  to  hear  that  gun  every  morning  at  ten  o'clock 
when  your  husband's  character  and  habits  are 
turned  wrongside  out  before  that  Court;  and  the 
tears  came  to  her  queer-looking  eyes  as  she  spoke. 
I  thought  you'd  like  to  hear  of  her  sympathy. 

"As  I  get  all  my  news  from  others  nowadays, 
I'll  add  that  Mrs.  Santley  (she's  got  the  homomania 
bad,  I  can  tell  you!),  well,  she  read  a  letter  from 

223 


PEACE   AND    THE    VICES 

the  chief,  in  which  he  said  your  husband  looked 
like  death  itself.  Of  course  I'm  awfully  sorry  for 
you,  but  what  can  he  expect?  I'd  go  to  you  to- 
morrow if  your  brother  had  not  been  acting  so 
very  queerly  of  late.  If  he  thinks  I'm  to  be  paci- 
fied by  a  string  of  cheap  jokes  every  mail,  he's  all 
out! 

"How  does  Julie  stand  the  heat?  I  should  not 
think  you'd  dare  keep  her  there  all  summer,  no- 
body does,  you  know." 

She  showed  this  tactful  letter  to  no  one,  but  the 
effect  of  it  upon  her  was  apparent.  She  no  longer 
found  solace  on  the  knee-high  levels  of  her  little 
daughter's  busy  life.  She  wandered  about  rest- 
lessly day  and  night,  eating  nothing  unless  forced 
to  it  by  insistent  Mammy. 

Joy,  happily  for  the  world,  expands;  suffering, 
also  happily  for  the  world,  contracts.  Isolated 
by  her  agony,  which  had  become  incommunicable 
from  long  habit,  they  could  only  help  her  by  keep- 
ing aloof.  To  hide  her  anguish  from  the  house- 
hold was  now  beyond  her  power,  and  in  fact  they 
wisely  encouraged  the  eccentricity  of  all  supreme 
emotion,  rather  than  its  repression. 

When  the  morning  came  on  which  the  Court 
met,  it  was  a  very  pale  rigid  little  Dora  whose 

224 


A   TEN   O'CLOCK   GUN 

distended  pitiful  eyes  continually  wandered  to  the 
clock,  as  the  hands  neared  the  hour  of  ten.  Adele 
noticed  this  in  amazement,  as  they  had  counted 
upon  her  ignorance  of  official  matters  to  be  kept 
in  doubt  of  both  the  hour,  and  the  custom  of  firing 
that  single  gun  at  the  moment  that  the  Court  con- 
vened. They  had  taken  every  precaution  to  leave 
her  uncertain  of  this,  and  other  facts  connected 
with  the  trial  of  her  husband.  After  a  hasty  con- 
sultation with  Mammy,  who  instantly  spotted  the 
source  of  information,  they  tried  to  get  Dora  away 
from  the  house  and  the  sound  of  that  terrible  sig- 
nal— but  without  success. 

They  now  hung  over  her  doubly  alarmed  and 
helpless,  and  also  furtively  watched  the  little  trav- 
elling clock  on  the  mantel  in  her  room.  As  the 
hour  drew  near,  Mammy,  chattering  with  unnat- 
ural loudness,  bustled  and  banged  around,  drag- 
ging about  all  the  furniture  in  the  room,  declaring 
she  had  lost  her  thimble,  and  knew  in  her  heart 
that  Haru  had  stolen  it.  But  before  she  had  the 
sly  thing  arrested  and  searched,  she  supposed  she 
had  better  look  about  to  be  on  the  safe  side — not 
that  she  had  the  faintest  idea  of  finding  it  else- 
where than  in  the  amah's  kori. 

Through  all  of  this  trumped-up  ferment,  Dora 
225 


PEACE   AND   THE   VICES 

stood  unconscious  of  everyone  in  the  open  window 
that  looked  down  on  the  bay,  her  hands  shading 
her  eyes  from  the  hot  sun  which  streamed  in  upon 
her  small  rigid  figure  in  its  loose  white  wrapper. 
Adele  and  the  negress  exchanged  anxious  glances, 
and  the  latter  fell  violently  upon  the  wardrobe, 
dragging  out  the  large  drawer  beneath,  and  just 
as  the  short  hand  reached  the  hour  of  ten,  Mammy 
and  her  burden  fell  heavily  to  the  floor  and  loud 
lamentations  filled  the  house.  But  there  was  no 
escaping  the  significance  of  that  single  sharp  re- 
port from  the  harbor,  and  Mammy  arose  from 
the  floor  her  eyes  full  of  disappointed  tears  and 
she  and  Adele  stood  paralyzed,  waiting  behind  the 
stricken  wife.  Dora  remained  perfectly  motion- 
less after  the  first  automatic  start  at  the  sound. 
Then  to  her  sister's  horror  she  began  to  laugh, 
at  first  very  softly,  whispering  incessantly  to  her- 
self: 

"That  was  a  good  shot!  It  ought  to  be  a  good 
shot.  They've  been  aiming  straight  at  your  heart 
for  weeks  and  weeks  and  they  waited  till  mine  got 
exactly  in  line — that's  why  they  were  so  long, 
dear.  I  knew  that's  what  they  were  waiting  for, 
and  I  stood  in  the  window  and  wouldn't  let  Mammy 
pull  down  the  sudare.  I  wanted  it  to  be  over.  I'm 

226 


A   TEN   O'CLOCK   GUN 

so  tired,  I'm  so  tired!  and  you  are  so  tired,  my 
poor  darling.  Yes,  I  know — maybe  we  can  sleep 
a  little  now  that  the  gun  hit  us  both  in  the  middle 
of  our  hearts — straight  in  the  middle,  and  we  will 
not  feel  anything  ever  any  more,  ever  any  more, 
amen,  amen." 

Convulsed  with  weeping,  Adele  clung  to  Mam- 
my and  whispered: 

"Can't  we  do  something?  I  am  afraid,  O 
Mammy,  I  am  afraid  her  mind  has  gone !" 

"Pore  little  missy,  her  hour  is  come  shore  'miff 
please  de  Lord !  You  go  on  out,  Miss  Dell,  leave 
her  ter  me,  I'se  got  my  'structions  from  Doctor 
Robb,  don't  you  go  and  get  scared.  She's  kyarin' 
on  fo'  all  de  worl'  de  way  he  said  he  reckoned  she 
would.  Go  on  out  an'  don't  'fusticate  me, 
honey!"  The  old  woman's  eyes  never  left  Mrs. 
Fellowes'  tense  figure,  still  standing  raving,  seeing 
nothing  but  the  phantasms  of  her  own  over- 
wrought mind.  Leaving  the  room  for  a  moment, 
the  negress  returned  carrying  a  glass  half  full  of 
steaming  hot  milk.  She  went  to  the  wash-stand 
and  dropped  into  the  milk  a  white  powder  which 
she  took  from  her  pocket.  Dora's  voice  still  went  on 
pouring  out  now  in  loud  disjointed  sentences  the 
long  hidden  misery  of  her  overflowing  heart,  and 

227 


PEACE   AND    THE   VICES 

she  did  not  seem  aware  of  the  servant's  presence 
until  Mammy  took  quiet  hold  of  her  arm  and 
stroked  it  very  gently  and  at  the  same  time  with 
a  firm  sure  touch.  Dora  lowered  her  uplifted  eyes 
slowly,  and  turned  them  with  evident  difficulty 
until  they  took  in  the  faithful  old  black  face,  which 
she  had  known  the  longest  of  any  living. 

"Why,  Mammy!"  she  murmured  in  slow 
amazement,  her  voice  pitched  in  a  strident  treble 
instead  of  her  usual  deep  contralto. 

"Yes'm,  it's  your  ole  Mammy  Lina,  all  right 
'nuff !  An'  I'se  got  a  monst'ous  nice  piece  of  news, 
missy.  De  cap'n's  coming  home  ter  dinner  day 
arfter  to-morror!" 

"Please  say  that  again,  I  can't  hear,  you  talk  so 
fast.  Please  don't  talk  so  fast,"  cried  Dora  with 
strong  irritation,  and  brows  knitted  in  her  effort 
to  comprehend. 

Very  slowly,  Mammy  went  several  times  over 
what  she  had  said,  her  reward  being  a  vacant  piti- 
ful smile  on  the  young  wife's  face,  now  flushed 
and  twitching. 

"Now,  'open  de  mouf  an'  shut  de  eyes,  an'  I'll 
give  yer  somethin'  ter  make  yer — purty.'  One, 
two,  three,  jes'  see  how  quick  yer  can  swaller  dis 
heah  little  bit  er  milk.  Deah  she  goes !  Now,  little 

228 


A   TEN    O'CLOCK    GUN 

missy,  gwine  look  mighty  purty  when  Marster 
Cap'n  he  comes  home." 

"Will  it  really  make  me  pretty,  Mammy?" 
Dora  asked  in  a  pleased  way  that  went  to  her  old 
nurse's  heart. 

"Deed'n  'twill,  Miss  Dora.  An'  yer  mus'  put 
on  dat  long  white  dress,  fussed  up  wid  de  Val'- 
cinnes  lace,  co'se  dat's  de  cap'n's  favoritest  of 
all." 

"And  the  pink  sash  ?"  queried  Dora,  as  the  other 
slowly  drew  her  away  from  the  window. 

"Of  co'se  de  pink  sash,  Miss  Dora,  an'  a  pink 
rose  fo'  de  hair.  My  Ian' !  but  you'll  be  sweet 
'nuff  ter  eat." 

"I  want  to  see  the  sash,"  said  Dora.  But  after 
it  was  placed  in  her  hand,  the  cessation  of  Mam- 
my's touch  withdrawn  for  the  moment,  precipi- 
tated another  attack  of  frenzy  and  the  old  nurse 
had  it  all  to  do  over  again ;  from  the  gentle  strok- 
ing to  the  coaxing  words: 

"Why,  chile,  deah's  y'ars  and  y'ars  ob  de  sun- 
nies',  brightes',  sorter  weather  'haid  you-all;  but 
yer  mus'n  get  down-sick,  an'  look  like  nuffin'  but 
a  scarecrow  in  a  co'npatch."  As  the  woman  prat- 
tled on,  her  familiar  voice  again  brought  peace, 
if  not  entire  understanding,  to  Dora  whom  she  led 

229 


PEACE   AND   THE   VICES 

slowly  toward  the  bed,  her  arm  around  her  now 
relaxed  figure.  Talking  all  the  time  in  a  comfort- 
ing croon,  Mammy  sat  down  on  the  edge  of  the 
bed  beside  her  young  mistress  and  softly  drew  the 
hair-pins  out  of  the  head  now  drooping  forward 
against  her.  Once  more  Dora  started  wildly  to 
her  feet,  hearing  in  fancy  again  that  fatal  gun 
from  the  flag-ship.  But  Mammy's  patience  was  at 
length  rewarded,  softer  and  softer  her  voice  grew 
and  then  ceased.  A  long  piteous  sigh  came  from 
the  now  recumbent  form  on  the  bed  and  Dora  slept, 
the  pink  sash  still  in  her  grasp.  After  watching  her 
a  long  time,  nothing  but  her  great  black  eyes 
moving,  Mammy  arose  and  gently  drew  down  the 
shades  and  left  the  room  as  softly  as  a  snake. 

Dell  was  waiting  outside  and  to  her  the  old 
woman  proudly  babbled: 

"She's  ap'  ter  sleep  'bout  fo' — five  hours,  but 
p'raps  havin'  conniptions  now  an'  then,  an'  we-all 
mus'  stay  near  an'  watch-out.  He  tole  me  larst 
week  dis  heah  boraxisym  mighty  like  ter  happen  ter 
Miss  Dora.  Who  ?  Why,  dat  deah  Doctor  Robb, 
co'se!  He's  sutney  some  sorter  conjureman,  ain' 
no  two  'pinions  'bout  dat,  Miss  Dell!  Bes'  not 
have  too  much  ter  do  wid  dat  sorter  gent'man,  dat's 
my  Vice,  miss!  He  done  give  me  dat  sleepin' 

230 


A   TEN    O'CLOCK    GUN 

po'tion  ter  use  at  my  own  digression,  dat's  what 
he  said,  and  dat's  how-come  I  knows  what  ter  do 
fo'  de  pore  chile." 

"I  think  he  might  have  trusted  me,"  fumed 
Dell  from  a  jealous  heart. 

"Now,  Miss  Dell,  you  know  mighty  well  you 
ain't  got  a  grain  ob  real  sense,  'pared  wid  dat  ole 
nigger,  S.  Car'lina !"  And  Adele  shook  her  finger 
at  her  and  smiled  for  the  first  time  that  day.  But 
it  again  fled  when  the  other  added: 

"But,  Miss  Dell,  what's  buzzin'  'round  inside 
my  haid,  like  ole  Mister  Bumblebee  inside  a  win- 
der on  a  hot  day,  is  dis  heah:  s'pose  dat  ole  gun 
goin'  froo  de  pore  chile's  heart  to-morror,  an'  to- 
morror,  an'  to-morror!  I  tell  yer,  miss,  right  now: 
if  dat  co't  down  yonder  sets  on  de  cap'n  fo'  a 
whole  livin'  week,  Miss  Dora  she's  never  no  mo' 
goin'  ter  be  de  same  again.  She  jes'  nat'ully  can' 
stand  it  nohow." 

Kent  received  no  letter  from  his  wife  the  first 
day  of  his  trial,  and  they  did  not  dare  tell  him 
why. 

The  drug  Dora  had  twice  been  given  left  her  the 
next  morning  nerveless  and  obedient  to  the  will 
of  others,  and  by  nine  o'clock  they  got  her  out  of 
the  house,  and  they  took  jinrikishas  and  went  far 

231 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

into  the  native  town  where  the  sound  of  a  gun  of 
so  small  a  calibre  could  not  be  heard.  At  the 
flower-market  Dell  and  Mammy  went  through  the 
usual  chaffering  over  prices  raised  at  their  ap- 
proach. Dora  sat  veiled  and  motionless,  Julie  be- 
side her,  in  her  jinrikisha.  Her  glance  wandered 
about  at  the  child's  command,  and  then  her  head 
would  suddenly  droop  and  her  eyes  close  as  the 
sleeping  draught  reasserted  itself.  When  the  dread- 
ed hour  had  passed  unnoticed  by  Dora  they  returned 
to  "Curio  Street,"  where  of  late  the  significant 
addition  of  Russian  to  the  native  and  English 
signs  over  the  shops  bore  witness  to  the  slow 
coming  of  "the  great  glacier";  the  first  small 
harmless  detritus  of  a  terminal  moraine,  little  sug- 
gestive of  the  huge,  silent,  relentless,  on-coming 
forces  back  of  it,  to  be  stopped  only  at  the  sea's 
edge — if  then. 

Old  Sato  had  sent  word  to  Adele  the  week  be- 
fore, that  he  had  returned  from  his  quarterly 
search  through  the  provinces  for  treasures  coveted 
by  "globe-trotters,"  who  were  happily  ignorant  of 
a  sharp  crescendo  of  prices,  once  they  were  under 
the  shrewd  old  merchant's  slender  fingers. 

Dora  again  sat  outside  watching  the  swarming 
light-hearted  children  about  them,  and  so  she  was 

232 


A   TEN    O'CLOCK    GUN 

alone  when  Ensign  Sault  passed  by,  saw  her, 
started,  blushed,  tried  to  retreat — and  altogether 
produced  such  an  effect  of  lonely  boyishness  that 
Dora's  gentle  heart  was  touched.  She  raised  her 
veil  and  spoke  to  him,  holding  out  her  hand,  the 
air  having  somewhat  cleared  her  head  and  calmed 
her. 

"All  by  yourself,  Mr.  Sault?  Isn't  it  rather 
forlorn,  shopping  alone?  I  wonder  if  we  could 
not  help  you?" 

He  could  not  speak  at  first  and  tears  sprang  to 
his  eyes  as  he  saw  the  shocking  change  in  her  sweet 
face,  long  known  to  him  in  Washington — remem- 
bering how  he  had  recently  sought  to  injure  her. 

Again  she  misread  his  trouble  and  again  the  soft 
motherly  voice  burned  into  his  ears  like  hot  irons. 
Mammy  saw  it  all  from  inside  the  shadowy  shop 
and  muttered  savage  anathemas. 

Finally  Sault  stammered  out: 

"You  are  very  kind  to  care,  Mrs.  Fellowes: 
Yes,  it  is  lonely  sometimes.  The  fellows  like  things 
I  don't  care  for,  and — and  there  isn't  much  else 
but  shopping." 

"I  understand.  Dell  must  take  you  in  hand. 
I'm  sure  you  get  frightfully  cheated.  Come  home 
to  tiffin  with  us,  will  you?"  she  wondered  to  hear 

333 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

herself  saying,  but  her  heart  yearned  over  all  the 
suffering  and  loneliness  in  the  world,  and  he  was 
such  a  boy  with  such  an  earnest,  clean  face. 

He  would  rather  have  been  flayed  alive  than 
broken  bread  with  this  one  woman  on  this  one 
day,  and  he  confusedly  offered  the  easy  excuse  of 
an  officer  attached  to  a  ship.  She  made  the  baby 
give  him  a  white  aster  for  his  button-hole  and  shake 
hands  with  him ;  and  he  went  on  his  way  shaken  to 
his  soul's  centre,  having  learned  his  first  lesson  in 
the  perfect  breeding  of  kindness;  and  something 
of  Dora's  own  distress  was  lifted  from  her,  so 
calculably  exact  is  the  ethical  tonic  of  a  gentle 
word,  both  to  the  hearer  and  to  the  speaker. 


234 


CHAPTER    XIV 

SECOND   DAY   OF  THE   COURT-MARTIAL 

"Betrayed  by  peace." 

DURING  the  interval  allowed  him  by  the 
Court,  the  judge  advocate  had  been  using 
every  effort  to  justify  his  captain's  action  in  Fel- 
lowes'  case,  which  had  counted  so  securely  upon 
the  Italian's  evidence. 

Once  again  Hopkins  had  run  down  all  the  old 
scents  and  again  found  them  stale,  in  his  search 
for  fresh  evidence  to  produce  in  the  second  day's 
session  of  the  Court.  Talty  had  stayed  on  board 
continuously  from  the  night  that  Lieutenant  Fel- 
lowes  had  gone  ashore,  till  his  return  five  days 
later.  Ensign  Sault,  known  to  have  worked  hard 
the  first  few  days  pursuant  to  his  rather  confused 
conception  of  his  duty  and  self-advancement  in  his 
captain's  eyes,  had  failed  altogether  in  his  youth- 
ful coup,  about  the  details  of  which  he  was 
strangely  reticent.  Ashore  there  were  only  Fel- 

235 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

lowes'  own  family,  and  several  natives  to  whom 
a  Christian  oath  carried  less  than  no  weight — and 
all  of  these  were  debarred  as  witnesses. 

The  morning  of  the  reconvening  of  the  Court, 
Hopkins  returned  to  the  "Boston"  for  breakfast, 
feeling  himself — not  for  the  first  time — a  victim 
to  one  of  those  powerful,  but  altogether  formless, 
psychic  energies  having  a  rather  varied  nomencla- 
ture but  resolving  itself  into  the  force  of  circum- 
stances— plus  the  sinuosities  of  a  certain  Latin 
conscience. 

None  knew  better  than  Hopkins,  in  his  long 
career  as  a  judge  advocate,  that  in  order  to  shield  a 
thing  loved  perfectly  honorable  men  still  resort  to 
the  feint  of  the  trailing  broken  wing  of  the  mother 
partridge. 

This  strongly  cemented  wall  of  silent  protection 
surrounded  the  accused,  and  the  judge  advocate 
knew  that  he  was  beaten.  He  also  knew  that  two 
things  really  had  saved  Fellowes'  commission :  the 
mysterious  defection  of  D'Estrees,  and  Fellowes' 
own  fine  character;  which  is  in  the  end  the  one 
unfailing  shield,  beaten  out  by  a  man  in  the  daily 
forge. 

And  yet,  thought  Hopkins,  with  a  quizzical 
smile,  the  moral  standard  of  these  same  men  de- 

236 


SECOND    DAY    OF    THE    COURT-MARTIAL 

feating  him  was  high  because  of  the  very  thing 
that  he,  as  judge  advocate,  stood  for. 

Yes,  the  case  was  lost  except  on  the  first  charge ; 
and  Hopkins'  manner  was  relaxed  and  purely  per- 
functory when  the  Court  met  and  was  called  to 
order,  at  ten  o'clock. 

Rising  he  said  abruptly: 

"May  the  Court  please,  I  regret  to  say  that  I 
have  no  further  witnesses  and  must  close  the  prose- 
cution." Adding  a  word  to  the  stenographer,  he 
sat  down. 

All  his  interest  in  the  case  had  evaporated,  his 
keen  professional  relish  for  a  legal  "kill"  had 
melted  once  more  into  a  pleasant  old  friend- 
ship. 

Whatever  acrimony  remained  was  entirely  con- 
centrated upon  D'Estrees  and  his  buffoonery, 
which  was  not  all  buffoonery,  as  Hopkins  had  been 
quite  as  quick  to  recognize  as  Robb,  and  quite  with- 
out the  latter's  premises. 

There  was  a  pause  after  Hopkins'  last  words, 
and  then  he  turned  to  Robb : 

"I  believe  you  have  no  witnesses,  Doctor?" 

"No,  none;  but  I  should  like  to  say  a  few 
words." 

With  eyes  and  voice  expressive  of  an  infinite 
237 


PEACE   AND   THE   VICES 

boredom,  the  judge  advocate  announced  to  the 
Court: 

"The  counsel  for  the  accused  has  no  witnesses 
and  is  ready  to  close  the  case.  Proceed,  sir." 

Robb  arose  and  stood  an  instant,  insisting  on  the 
close  attention  that  absolute  silence,  if  broken  at 
the  right  instant,  alone  best  imposes. 

When  he  spoke  it  was  in  that  entirely  rational 
tone  that  breeds  less  antagonism  in  the  masculine 
mind  than  any  other.  He  had  no  notes  and  re- 
sorted to  no  gestures,  one  hand  was  straight  down 
at  his  side,  two  fingers  of  the  other  were  tucked 
into  his  tightly  buttoned  white  duck  blouse. 

"I  had  at  no  time  intended  to  do  more  than 
invite  the  Court's  attention  to  the  human  side  of 
this  case,  and  the  surprising  fact  that  the  judge  ad- 
vocate has  been  unable  to  produce  a  single  witness 
to  support  the  second  and  third  charges  doubly 
relieves  me  of  any  necessity  of  even  touching  upon 
the  legal  aspect,  supposed  to  exist  before  the  judge 
advocate  closed  for  the  prosecution.  The  tap-roots 
of  the  law — or  rather  its  enforcement — are  em- 
bedded in  evidence,  otherwise  as  the  gentlemen  of 
the  Court  have  just  seen  for  themselves — the  er — 
fruitage  may,  without  euphemy,  be  termed,  I  think, 
meagre.  The  prosecution  seems  to  have  acted  in 

238 


SECOND    DAY    OF    THE    COURT-MARTIAL 

this  matter  either  too  hastily,  or  not  quite  hastily 
enough — I  will  leave  it  to  you  to  determine." 

A  smile  ran  around  the  table,  which  effect  was, 
in  accordance  with  an  old  aphorism  of  the  coun- 
sel's: that  laughter  is  the  trumpet  call  to  all  other 
salutary  emotions. 

Fellowes  sat  as  before,  turned  sidewise  in  his 
chair,  his  head  leaning  on  his  hand,  his  eyes  on  the 
floor.  To  him  it  was  all  dust  and  ashes.  He  was 
guilty — all  else  was  a  mere  farce  and  an  utter 
weariness. 

The  doctor's  smooth,  handsome  face  remained 
set  in  grave  imperturbable  lines,  as  he  continued: 

"This  fact,  of  course,  makes  it  certain  that  the 
accused  must  be  acquitted  of  charges  two  and 
three;  and  that  being  the  case,  releases  me  from 
certain  obligations  of  silence  that  would  necessa- 
rily have  been  imposed  upon  me,  had  there  been — 
as  I  not  unreasonably  supposed — evidence  con- 
cerning the  statements  in  the  specifications  of  those 
charges. 

"I  will  beg  the  indulgence  of  the  Court,  and 
of  the  judge  advocate,  if  in  the  remarks  I  wish  to 
offer  I  do  not  confine  myself  to  the — I  was  about 
to  say  'facts  in  evidence,'  but  as  there  are  none,  I 
am  compelled  to  repeat  the  expression — legal  as- 
pects in  this  case. 

239 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

"I  have  known  the  accused  over  twelve  years. 
As  his  friend  I  can  only  tell  you  what  every  man 
who  has  been  thrown  with  him  knows  to  be  true : 
he  is  incapable  of  conscious  wrong;  as  his  physi- 
cian, I  can  tell  you  that  civil  war  within  the  borders 
of  a  man's  own  soul  is  the  true  'fire  and  brimstone.' 
Those  of  you  who  carry  within  you  the  peace  of 
inherited  mental  and  physical  balance  are  raw  re- 
cruits drawn  up  in  judgment  upon  an  old  soldier, 
worn,  and  scarred  and  very  weary,  after  almost  as 
many  spiritual  battles  as  there  are  days  of  his  adult 
life.  Fighting  always  alone,  without  the  cheers  of 
comrades  when  winning;  bearing  in  silence  defeat. 
If  now  and  again  we  see  him  falter,  shall  we  not 
rather  call  out  'courage!'  to  so  heavily  burdened 
a  man,  and  trust  that  our  very  faith  in  him  may 
work  for  his  good?  I  do  not  think  the  United 
States  will  be  the  loser  by  trusting  her  honor  a 
little  longer  to  such  a  man  as  the  accused.  The 
best  men  at  Apia — shall  we  instance? — were  not 
among  the  first-class  conduct  men,  but  were  the 
delinquents,  masted  everlastingly  for  unblacked 
boots,  bright-work  neglected,  bags  not  in  order, 
not  irreproachable  conduct  ashore.  And  so  I  think 
a  war  with  elements  outside  of  himself — the  war 
we  are  all  standing  ready  for  every  hour  of  our 

240 


SECOND    DAY    OF    THE    COURT-MARTIAL 

lives — will  act  as  the  precipitate  in  this  man's  life 
before  us.  Simply  because — well,  Ruskin  has  said 
it:  'The  common  notion  that  peace  and  the  virt- 
ues of  civil  life  flourished  together  I  found  to  be 
wholly  untenable.  Peace  and  the  vices  of  civil  life 
only  flourish  together.'  A  Naval  officer  is  like  his 
ship — a  highly  complex  fighting  machine  full  of 
energies  only  kept  free  from  rust  by  hard  work. 
But  the  human  soul  among  us  needs  more  than 
readiness,  it  needs  exploitation,  fulfilment.  It 
needs  the  one  supreme  hour  of  battle,  for  which 
everything  on  this  ship  exists,  from  the  humblest 
rivet  doing  its  honest  little  task  down  in  the  bottom 
of  the  boiler,  to  the  commander-in-chief's  plan  of 
battle,  now  lying  at  the  captain's  hand  out  there  in 
the  cabin.  Sometimes  the  pathos  of  all  this  sus- 
pended energy  is  borne  in  upon  me  strongly.  What 
if  an  actor  spent  forty  of  his  best  years  rehearsing 
behind  the  curtain  that  never  lifted  before  his  eyes? 
What  if  a  lawyer  was  found  in  his  office,  his  gray 
head  on  his  books,  waiting  for  that  first  client  that 
never  came  ?  Or  a  physician,  listening  for  the  hur- 
ried step  that  had  need  of  him  all  through  his 
youth,  his  best  middle  years,  and  on  into  old  age 
— listening,  ready,  to  the  end?  Is  it  then  to  be 
wondered  at  that  now  and  then  among  us  Naval 

241 


PEACE   AND   THE   VICES 

officers,  a  man  reaches  out  for  something  to  bank 
the  fires  within  him  ?  It  is  not  easy — this  waiting 
for  our  chance — for  any  of  you  gentlemen,  per- 
haps, albeit  the  blessing  of  health  (or  virtue,  as  you 
choose)  is  yours;  how  much  less  easy  for  one " 

"Who  is  guilty!  I  was,  for  four  days,  drunk!" 
came  like  a  thunderbolt  upon  them  all,  and  Fel- 
lowes  was  on  his  feet,  his  face  that  of  one  dead. 

The  habit  of  discipline  was  so  ingrained  in 
these  men  that  save  for  an  added  tenseness  about 
the  mouth  and  a  slight  leaning  forward  in  their 
chairs,  the  Court  was  outwardly  as  before  the  ac- 
cused had  spoken,  although  the  president  rapped 
for  an  unneeded  order. 

The  judge  advocate  sprang  to  his  feet  and  be- 
gan to  speak  very  rapidly. 

"The  case  for  the  Government  has  been  closed !" 
cried  Robb. 

As  he  spoke,  Fellowes'  tall  figure  gave  a  sudden 
lurch  and  before  any  one  could  reach  him,  he  fell 
heavily  to  the  deck.  Almost  before  his  full  length 
was  measured,  Robb  was  kneeling  beside  the  pros- 
trate figure  tugging  at  the  collar.  Captain  Penny 
cleared  the  court-room,  the  bell  of  the  judge  advo- 
cate rang  sharply  for  the  provost  marshal,  whom 
he  waved  toward  the  doctor,  who  gave  him  a  rapid 

242 


SECOND    DAY    OF    THE    COURT-MARTIAL 

low-spoken  order.  There  was  no  confusion  and 
the  officers  filed  out  silently. 

Syncope,  prolonged  to  the  danger  line,  wiped 
Kent's  consciousness  out  of  the  reckoning  for  what 
seemed  an  eternity  to  those  who  loved  him,  and  the 
cabin  was  turned  over  to  Robb  and  his  assistants. 

Admiral  Titterington  came  in  once  needlessly 
tiptoeing,  but  thereby  showing  his  sympathy,  of 
which  Robb  took  hurried  note,  as  in  his  shirt- 
sleeves he  worked  unceasingly  over  the  man  who 
was  now  no  longer  his  client,  but  his  patient. 

"Heart?"  asked  the  admiral  standing  beside 
them  looking  down. 

"Yes,  sir.  A  big  mental  strain  following  a  big 
physical  strain.  There  has  been  pronounced  func- 
tional trouble  there  for  sometime;  and  possibly  is 
at  the  root  of  his — other  inherited  troubles.  But 
he's  coming  round.  Admiral,  it  would  be  as  well 
that  no  whisper  of  this  reaches  his  wife — her  con- 
dition just  now  is  more  pitiful  than  his.  I  prefer 
telling  her  myself." 

"Poor  children!  Poor  children!  Nice  enough 
world,  Doctor,  to  live  in  if  there  was  no  continu- 
ity between  generations,  eh?  Some  of  you  scien- 
tific fellows  ought  to  find  out  a  way  to  disjunct 
us  from  our  ancestors,  and  our  descendants  from 

243 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

us — Jove !  that  would  ease  things  up  a  bit,  wouldn't 
it,  Doctor?" 

"It's  the  job  for  another  set  of  men,  Admiral — 
the  priests.  If  they  would  preach  the  immortality 
of  acts,  the  immortality  of  souls  would  adjust  itself 
— and  we  physicians  would  have  a  deal  less  work 
to  do,"  said  Robb,  looking  up  with  twinkling 
eyes. 

"Once  in  awhile  you  doctors  run  the  fleet,  you 
know,  Robb,"  and  the  admiral  smiled.  "What  do 
you  advise  about  this  poor  fellow?" 

"Several  weeks — perhaps  months — rest  ashore, 
before  he  is  ordered  home,  sir." 

"Yokohama  hospital?" 

"No,  sir,  here  at  once.  There's  a  little  hospital 
up  on  the  hill  over  there,  not  far  from  'Ippon 
Matsu,'  by  the  bye,  and  a  French  Sister  running 
things,  and  a  flower  garden,  high  up  above  the  line 
of  fretting." 

"Just  say  when,"  was  the  commander-in-chief's 
sole  comment. 

So  it  came  to  pass  that  the  first  meeting  between 
Kent  and  Dora,  after  that  heartbreaking  separation, 
took  place  late  that  night  up  in  the  large  south 
corner  room  of  the  high-perched  hospital,  whither 
Fellowes  had  been  carried  by  six  sailors. 

244 


SECOND    DAY    OF    THE    COURT-MARTIAL 

Soeur  Agnes  herself  opened  the  room  door  for 
Dora  and  pointed  to  the  bed,  to  which  the  wife's 
eyes  flew  like  weary  birds  back  to  their  nest  at 
nightfall. 

Soeur  Agnes  stood  for  a  moment  outside  the 
closed  door  and  crossed  herself;  and  then  with 
hurrying  steps  went  to  the  great  Russian  sailor 
who  was  dying  across  the  hall,  from  a  misstep  on 
the  royal-yard  of  a  merchantman  the  night  before. 
He  clung  to  the  Sister's  hard  hand,  like  a  fright- 
ened child,  whimpering  of  his  fear  of  death  in  a 
tongue  unknown  to  her.  To  touch  a  good  wom- 
an's hand  was  as  near  prayer  as  the  sailor  had 
been  for  many  a  long  year,  in  his  life  of  two  very 
simple  things:  hard  work  afloat,  and  mad  orgies 
ashore. 

It  was  best  for  the  French  Sister  of  the  Order 
of  Les  Soeurs  de  1'Enfant  Jesus  not  to  have  time 
to  think.  She  fought  leisure  as  another  might  evil. 
She  was  not  of  the  line  of  saints  whose  motto  is 
"thou  shalt  not,"  like  some  fanatics  of  negation 
and  uselessness.  Work  was  her  mission,  her  recre- 
ation, her  sanctuary;  in  that  she  had  found  a  great 
peace.  Her  rugged  humorous  face  was  a  very 
happy  one;  her  touch,  the  hard,  firm  one  of  the 
unemotional,  the  insensitive;  and  yet  she  did  not 

245 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

wish  to  see  the  meeting  between  the  young  wife 
and  her  husband  in  there  across  the  hall!  She 
was  glad,  if  this  great  Russian  had  to  die,  that  his 
release  from  his  agony  would  come  that  night — she 
had  no  time  for  lesser  matters.  So  she  sat  long 
beside  the  restless  giant,  and  neither  could  under- 
stand the  other;  and  no  word  passed  between 
them ;  but  his  moaning  ceased  when  she  put  a  cruci- 
fix in  his  hands,  tragic  from  roughest  labor. 

"Do  not  touch  me,  please,"  were  Kent's  first 
words  to  his  wife,  spoken  slowly,  coldly.  But  she 
understood  and  waited,  thankful  for  the  dim  light 
in  the  room,  that  her  self-control  need  be  concen- 
trated upon  her  voice  alone.  She  laid  aside  her 
hat,  pushed  open  a  shutter  to  let  in  the  moonlight, 
doing  and  undoing  needless  things,  that  his  eyes 
might  become  used  to  her  and  something  of  his 
load  of  self-despising  be  finally  lifted  from  him  by 
love's  gradual  reassertion. 

"Dora !"  presently  burst  from  him  with  a  long- 
ing beyond  all  control  and  she  went  to  him,  and 
spent  upon  him  all  the  great  treasure  of  her  heart, 
in  which  was  jewelled  the  pure  genius  of  loving. 

"Dear,  you  can't  separate  yourself  from  me, 
why  will  you  insist  on  trying?  Our  lives  are  like 
two  drops  of  water  run  into  one — forever  one. 

246 


SECOND    DAY    OF    THE    COURT-MARTIAL 

Can't  you  see  it?  feel  it?  I  believe  you  dol  I  be- 
lieve you  just  want  to  hear  me  say  it  over  and  over, 
you  vain  person !"  she  prattled  beside  him,  terribly 
shocked  at  the  nearer  view  of  his  face,  but  hiding 
it  as  a  brave  woman  must. 

"Is  your  faith  in  me  all  gone?"  he  begged  and 
she  stooped  and  placed  the  benediction  of  her  kiss 
upon  his  brow. 

"Do  not  talk,  dear  heart.  They'll  tell  me  all 
that's  necessary,  by  and  by.  You  must  be  very  quiet 
and  happy  up  here  for  a  little  while,  and  I'll  come 
each  day  to  you !  And  perhaps  if  you  are  very, 
very  good,  I'll  bring  the  baby  some  day."  He 
smiled  and  then  fell  asleep  at  once,  dropping  sud- 
denly off  the  edge  of  an  exhausted  consciousness. 

Not  until  then  did  she  give  way  to  the  pent-up 
agony  within  her  heart.  She  sought  and  found  the 
Sister  of  Mercy  in  the  kitchen,  the  incense  of  a 
steaming  broth  rising  about  her  sturdy  figure. 
But  Dora  had  need  of  another  woman  just  then, 
and  she  forced  the  Sister  into  a  chair  and  knelt 
before  her  and  put  her  young  head  in  the  lap  of 
the  religieuse  and  wept  until  quiet  returned  to  her. 
Only  another  woman  understands  when  the  hour 
comes  for  feminine  unmasking ;  for  she  alone  com- 
prehends the  great  maternal  necessity  of  that 

247 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

mask.  And  above  the  kneeling  figure  bowed  upon 
her  knees,  Soeur  Agnes's  eyes  were  closed  and  her 
lips  on  her  little  suspended  cross,  and  she  prayed 
for  forget  fulness  of  a  thing  she  had  hoped  for- 
gotten. 

After  Talty  had  come  and  taken  Dora  away, 
the  Sister  prepared  the  Russian  for  his  final  rest, 
folding  for  him  the  great  gnarled  hands,  now  very 
white  and  quiet  at  last. 


248 


CHAPTER    XV 

A   LAUGH   AND   A   BLOW 

"Whatsoever 
It  worthy  of  their  love  is  worth  their  anger." 

THE  next  day  Jack  brought  up  to  "The  Lone 
Pine"  the  news  of  Kent's  sentence.  The 
admiral  had  issued  a  squadron  order,  stating  that 
the  Court  had  found  Lieutenant  Fellowes  guilty 
of  absence  without  leave,  but  had  acquitted  him 
of  the  other  two  charges.  The  sentence  had  been 
two  years'  suspension,  but  in  consideration  of  a 
recommendation  to  clemency,  signed  by  every  mem- 
ber of  the  Court,  the  period  of  suspension  was  re- 
duced to  one  year.  He  was  officially  released  from 
arrest  and  his  sword  was  returned  to  him. 

The  most  successful  teacher  of  gratitude  is  pain; 
and  the  effect  of  this  mitigation  of  Kent's  sentence 
produced  a  feeling  of  almost  joy  upon  the  san- 
guine natures  living  under  the  great  pine  tree. 

There  being  now  no  further  objection  to  Imo- 
gen's disturbing  presence,  Jack  sent  the  cable 

249 


PEACE   AND   THE   VICES 

message  she  demanded,  but  it  was  almost  a  week 
before  the  morbid  excitation  had  worked  itself  out, 
and  she  brought  herself  to  the  point  of  leaving 
Shanghai  for  Nagasaki. 

Doctor  D'Estrees  had  called  at  "Ippon  Matsu" 
twice  every  day,  since  that  fatal  morning  when 
Adele  discovered  that  there  were  other  emotional 
worlds  besides  the  very  small  well-sheltered  one  to 
which  she  had  been  accustomed;  and  twice  every 
day  Mammy  had  invented  a  fresh  reason  for  Miss 
Talty's  non-appearance.  Finally  Mammy  took 
matters  in  her  own  hands,  after  hearing  Doctor 
Robb  at  the  dinner-table  threaten  desperate  things 

•» 

upon  this  very  sore  subject.  One  afternoon  when 
D'Estrees  came  laden  with  fresh  flowers  (but  a 
fast  fading  hope)  she  took  them  from  his  hands 
beamingly  at  the  door,  laid  them  upon  the  circular 
bench  that  ringed  the  old  "Ippon  Matsu"  in  the 
entrance  hall,  and  when  he  turned  to  go  away  she 
followed  him  to  the  gate,  saying  in  her  privileged 
tone: 

"You'se  been  a  mighty  good  friend  toe  we-all, 
Doctor,  an'  so  I'se  gwine  ter  tole  yer  a  piece  o' 
news,  sah!  If  you  sud  hyar  it,  fo'  de  fus'  time, 
outen  side  ob  our  house,  you'd  be  puffeckly  jus'fied 
ter  feel  right  hurt  'bout  it." 

250 


A    LAUGH    AND    A    BLOW 

"Well,  well — what  ees  eet?  what  ees  eet?" 
cried  he  irritably. 

"My  Miss  Dell  an'  de  orficer  doctor  on  de 
'Boston'  gwine  get  maa'd,  yas,  sah!  We-all's 
mighty  pleased  'bout  it,  fo'  Miss  Dell's  she's  pow- 
ful  oncertain  kinder  young  lady,  an'  'twould  be  a 
great  res'  ter  see  her  settled.  I'll  say  ter  Miss 
Dell  you  sent  yo'  'gratulations,  s'all  I,  sah?  Thank 
you,  sah.  Good-mawnin' !" 

"Lord-ee!  if  ever  ole  Mammy  South  Car-lina 
see  de  debbil  in  her  life,  she  jes'  done  seen  'um  dis 
heah  minute  in  dat  yaller  man's  eye !"  she  muttered 
to  herself,  her  own  eyes  bulging  with  genuine  ter- 
ror, as  she  recrossed  the  garden. 

The  accuracy  of  her  intuition  was  shown  by  the 
fact  that  within  an  hour  after  D'Estrees'  call,  Dell 
and  Robb  sent  for  her  and  told  her  their  news,  and 
sat  smiling  awaiting  her  comment;  always  consid- 
ered of  moment  upon  great  occasions  in  the  family 
circle.  She  stood  looking  at  them  with  eyes  plain- 
ly amused  at  their  effrontery  in  telling  her  at  this 
late  hour.  Then  she  said,  pouting  her  full  lips  and 
pretending  a  sudden  embarrassment: 

"I — I  know  puffeckly  well  Miss  Dell  was  in  lub 
wid  yer,  Mars'  Doctor  Robb,  well — 'bout  two 
years  ago,"  then  she  chuckled. 

251 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

"Mammy,  you  go  on  out  to  the  kitchen  and  stay 
there!  The  idea  of  your  daring  to  say  such  a 
thing!  The  biggest  old  taradiddle  you  ever  told 
in  your  life,  and  that's  saying  a  great  deal.  Go  on 
out — when  I  speak  to  you !"  stormed  Dell  in  sim- 
ulated wrath,  her  southern  accent  of  the  strongest. 

The  great  mouth  of  the  negress  was  a  dark  wide- 
open  cave  full  of  whitest  stalactites  and  stalag- 
mites, and  her  laugh  was  pure  melody. 

"Mammy  Lina,  why  didn't  you  tell  me  instead 
of  keeping  me  on  tenter-hooks  all  these  years?" 
demanded  Leigh,  one  vast  smile  of  unalloyed  joy. 

"I  tell  on  my  little  missy  befo'  she's  ready  ter 
tell  on  herself?  De  doctor  dunno  yer  ole  Mam- 
my yit,  do  he,  Miss  Dell?  An'  as  fer  de  tenting- 
hooks,  dunno  nuffin'  tall  'bout  'em,  sah.  I  doan' 
reckon  we-all  got  'em  down  south,  does  you,  Miss 
Dell?  But  anyhow  I'se  mighty  glad  fo'  Miss 
Dell,  but  you'se  got  bof  yer  hands  chock  full,  sah, 
an'  no  mistake,  'scusin'  de  liberty."  And  then 
Adele  sent  her  away.  At  the  door  the  old  servant 
turned  and  said  seriously: 

"Deah's  a  big  old  Mister  Snake  in  eb'ry  gyardin 
ob  Eden ;  'tain't  all  apples.  You-all  mus'  watch  out 
fo'  'um  mighty  spry." 

"D'Estrees?"  asked  Robb  after  Mammy  had 
252 


A   LAUGH    AND    A   BLOW 

gone,  his  face  becoming  grave  as  it  always  did 
when  the  man's  name  was  introduced.  Dell 
nodded  and  turned  her  face  away,  a  shadow  fall- 
ing there  too ;  seeing  which  Robb  said  with  gentle 
gravity : 

"However,  Adele,  we  may  regret  the  means  by 
which  it  was  accomplished,  you  saved  Kent's  com- 
mission by  it.  Try  and  remember  that,  dear,  and 
forget  the  rest." 

It  was  several  minutes  before  the  restraint  wore 
away,  and  the  growing  ecstasy  of  their  love  again 
held  them  in  its  spell — deaf,  dumb,  and  blind  to 
all  else.  Robb  would  have  liked  to  come  to  a  clear 
understanding  with  the  Italian,  but  Dell  had  the 
American  woman's  dislike  for  interference  in  her 
love  affairs  and  forbade  it  positively.  A  morbid 
fear  of  the  man  kept  her  from  the  direct  way  of 
telling,  or  writing,  him  herself  the  simple  truth; 
so  she  took  the  easy  sloping  path  of  temporizing; 
leaving  that,  with  other  disagreeable  tasks,  to  a 
spoiling  Mammy. 

Adele  had  a  nature  full  of  doors  opening  to  all 
points  of  the  compass ;  that  she  finally  barred  them 
all  but  one,  was  a  harder  task  to  be  given  than  if 
the  peace  of  solid  walls  encompassed  her.  Leigh 
Robb  knew  that  the  light  from  many  windows 

253 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

would  always  come  through  to  his  sweetheart  and 
he  rejoiced  thereat,  having  a  wise  man's  fear  of 
satiety.  Such  a  fate  seemed  very  remote  that 
afternoon  as  one  hour  after  another  sped  by  un- 
reckoned.  Then  came  a  loud  slam  of  the  gate, 
Jack's  shrill  whistle,  his  quick  step  through  the  en- 
trance hall,  an  ostentatious  banging  and  slamming 
about,  followed  by  a  furious,  affected  cough  out- 
side the  drawing-room  door,  all  of  which  told  its 
tale  to  Dell  who,  blushing  scarlet,  cried  reproach- 
fully to  her  lover: 

"You've  gone  and  told  him!" 

"Yes,  last  night.  It  was  either  talk  about  it,  or 
go  overboard,"  and  then  they  both  fell  into  shouts 
of  laughter  as  the  cough  at  the  door  became  inter- 
rogative and  more  and  more  insistent,  accompanied 
by  a  timid  rapping. 

Not  until  Dell  called  out: 

"Jack,  you  dear  old  idiot,  come  in!"  was  the 
door  carefully  opened  an  inch  at  a  time,  amidst  a 
shower  of  "ahems,"  and  then  Talty's  merry  face 
appeared  with  tight-shut  eyes,  lest  they  see  too 
much. 

"Now,  don't  you  dare  to  tell  us,  as  Mammy  did, 
that  you  knew  it  nine  or  ten  years  ago,"  threatened 
Dell. 

254 


"My  dear — in  fact,  I  think  I  may  now  say, 
my  dears — I  never  was  so  surprised  in  my  whole 
life !"  vowed  Jack,  striving  after  the  expression  of 
inspired  "putti"  in  sacred  canvases. 

Then  ensued  such  a  scene  of  fantastic  nonsense 
as  had  never  before  been  heard  in  "Ippon  Matsu." 
Robb  fired  them  on  to  fresh  flights  by  his  roars  of 
laughter,  seeing  under  it  all  the  perfect  harmony 
of  their  relationship;  infinitely  preferring  it  to  ex- 
perimenting with  discord. 

"Family  honor,  Robb,  closes  my  mouth  about 
many  things  as  to  your  choice ;  all  I  can  chivalrously 
say " 

"Mammy  has  already  said  it,"  said  Dell  dryly; 
and  then  the  doctor  promptly  broke  the  engage- 
ment and  started  for  the  door  under  plea  of  false 
pretences. 

"One  moment,  beloved  shipmate;  I  was  about 
to  say  that  full  compensation  for  an  otherwise 
grim  fate  lies  in  the  acquisition  of  this  sweet, 
sunny — and  I  think  it  best  to  be  perfectly  frank — 
effulgent  spirit  lying  within,"  Jack  tapped  his  chest 
with  one  finger  and  drooped  his  eyes  coyly: 
"Briefly,  old  chap,  you're  in.  for  a  soft  thing  in 
brothers-in-law,"  he  added,  relaxing  suddenly  into 
the  colloquial. 

255 


PEACE   AND    THE   VICES 

So  they  went  on  revelling  in  the  reaction  from 
much  sorrow.  Then  the  bell  rang  and  Imogen 
marched  in  unexpectedly,  and  only  the  long  disci- 
pline of  Jack's  life  saved  the  situation. 

"I  can  judge  that  I  have  not  been  deeply  missed 
by  the  howls  of  laughter  that  greeted  me  at  the 
gate.  I  confess  I'm  a  little  surprised,  supposing  I 
was  coming  back  to  a  house  of  mourning,"  she 
grieved  in  the  old  familiar  way.  Jack's  eyes  alone 
bore  testimony  to  the  great  weariness  within  him. 

"I  came  because  the  admiral  cabled  his  wife  to 
come  here,  and  there  didn't  seem  to  be  anything 
else  to  do  but  come  over  too." 

A  blight  had  fallen  upon  the  room,  however 
hard  the  other  two  worked  to  prevent  it  for  Jack's 
sake;  and  the  narrowest  soul  ruled  supreme,  as  so 
often  happens  in  a  weak,  peace-loving  world. 

Resenting  the  sudden  silence,  and  the  slow  with- 
drawal of  Dell  and  Robb  to  the  farthest  window, 
Imogen  cried  in  an  access  of  peevishness : 

"Is  Mr.  Fellowes  in  arrest  yet?  Where  is  he? 
Where  is  Dora?  Is  he  dismissed?  For  mercy's 
sake  do  tell  me  something  about  things;  are  you 
all  struck  suddenly  dumb?" 

"It  was  the  Sun,  in  the  fable,  Imogen,  that  took 
off  the  man's  coat — not  the  Wind,"  said  Talry 

gravely. 

256 


A   LAUGH   AND   A   BLOW 

"I  don't  know  what  you're  talking  about,  and 
I  doubt  if  you  do  yourself,"  she  snapped. 

But  the  hopeless  unhappiness  in  the  worn  face 
went  to  his  happy-loving  nature  and  he  went  to  her 
and  began  to  take  off  her  gloves. 

"Never  mind,  old  girl.  Where  are  your  traps? 
I'll  call  Mammy,  and  see  if  between  us  we  can't 
make  you  comfortable.  Dora  is  up  at  the  hospital 
— but  I'll  tell  you  all  about  it  later.  You  look  all 
tired  out — I'm  afraid  you've  had  a  bad  crossing." 

"The  China  Sea  was  as  it  always  is,  a  pot  of 
pea-soup  boiling  over.  I  was  sea-sick  of  course, 
you  know  perfectly  well  I  always  am.  And  I  can 
tell  you  I'm  also  sick  and  tired  of  dragging  about 
after  a  man  who—"  Jack  led  the  way  out  of  the 
room.  He  knew  he  had  only  to  caress  her  to  buy 
peace,  and  therein  lay  his  martyrdom. 

"It's  thirteen  years,  eight  months,  twenty-one 
days,  seven  hours,  and  forty-five  minutes  since  I 
kissed  you,  and  I'm  starving !"  Robb  promptly  an- 
nounced as  soon  as  the  door  closed,  seizing  Dell's 
hand  and  drawing  her  away  from  a  tell-tale 
window. 

"Don't  even  remember  the  seconds !"  she  pouted, 
trying  to  look  unhappy. 

But  although  his  speech  revelled  in  new-found 
257 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

license,  his  touch  was  ever  that  of  tenderness  and 
gentlest  reserve. 

It  was  quite  another  hour  before  they  reached  the 
actual  point  of  parting  long  enough  for  him  to  dash 
down  to  the  ship,  visit  his  one  patient  in  the  sick- 
bay, renew  his  leave,  and  get  back  to  "Ippon  Mat- 
su"  in  time  for  the  usual  late  dinner  of  the 
Orient. 

As  he  crossed  the  Bund  to  the  landing  he  came 
face  to  face  with  D'Estrees.  The  two  men  bowed 
and  passed  on.  An  instant  later  the  European 
turned  back  hastily  and  cried: 

"Doctor  Roobb,  one  moment,  please.  I  have  hot 
just  heard  of  your  happiness.  Weel  you  accept  my 
felicitations?  There  ees  perhaps  no  one  een  town 
qui-i-te  een  the  position  that  I  am,  to  comprehend 
the  very  rare  charms  of  the  fair  lady  who  weel  be 
your  wi-i-fe.  That  ees  my  message  to  her.  May  I 
ask  you  to  deliver  eet?  She  weel  explen'.  I  weel 
dreenk  le  vin  d'honneur  ce  soir  a  la  belle  foldtre!" 

He  was  gone  before  Robb  could  bring  himself 
to  believe  the  underlying  meaning  in  the  smooth, 
smiling  words. 

When  he  did,  he  turned  like  a  baited  bull  re- 
sponsive to  the  banderillero,  but  there  was  nothing 
nearer  than  a  jinrikisha  darting  around  the  nearest 

258 


A   LAUGH   AND    A   BLOW 

corner  with  two  atoshi  at  the  back;  and  Robb 
recovered  his  self-control  and  clear  vision  of 
things. 

"He  wants  me  to  risk  my  commission  by  follow- 
ing him  now  in  my  uniform  before  my  head  clears. 
He  is  not  worth  it.  We  Anglo-Saxons  can  wait 
and  not  cool  off — too  much.  But  I'll  see  you  again 
to-night  before  I  sleep,  as  sure  as  there's  a  God 
above  usl" 

He  passed  the  whole  evening  beside  Dell  in  a 
sort  of  trance,  waiting  for  the  hour  when  he  should 
be  free  for  what  his  soul  panted.  For  the  moment 
the  world  of  women  but  fretted  him;  there  was 
always  something  to  be  hidden  from  them. 

He  had  come  ashore  in  a  white  duck  mess  jacket 
picked  up  at  Colombo.  He  would  remain  at 
"Ippon  Matsu"  until  half-past  ten,  then  he  had 
until  midnight  to  do  what  he  had  to  do. 

Down  on  the  Bund  that  night  about  ten  o'clock, 
there  was  the  usual  game  of  poker  going  on  at  the 
club,  in  the  small,  back,  second-story  room  where 
it  was  good  form  to  send  in  your  name  before  en- 
tering, unless  by  previous  arrangement. 

D'Estrees  was  there  as  usual,  with  the  two  British 
residents — one  English,  the  other  Scotch — who 
had  taught  him  the  game  some  four  years  back. 

259 


PEACE   AND    THE   VICES 

The  fourth  was  a  new-comer,  a  silent  giant  with 
eyes  like  steel,  and  an  unreadable  face  that  made 
his  bluff  on  a  bob-tail-flush  a  thing  to  talk  about 
for  months  to  come. 

In  the  afternoon  he  had  said  he  was  en  route 
from  Shanghai  to  Port  Arthur.  That  was  all  they 
knew  when  they  arranged  a  game  for  the  even- 
ing. He  was  English  apparently  but  spoke  with  a 
strange  accent  none  of  the  others  had  travelled 
widely  enough  to  place  geographically.  About 
quarter-past  ten  the  Scotchman  got  thirsty,  and 
proposed  that  a  plethoric  "Kitty"  should  pay  for 
drinks.  He  clapped  his  hands  for  a  "boy,"  signed 
the  chit,  and  then  they  all  sat  back  in  their  chairs 
and  became  human  once  more  as  they  waited. 

"By  the  bye,"  said  the  Scotchman  quietly,  "I 
took  tiffin  off  on  the  American  flag-ship  to-day — 
met  some  awfully  decent  chaps — and  heard  a  bit  of 
news." 

"Fellowes*  sentence?"  yawned  the  Englishman. 

"No,  no— a  bit  of  romance  if  you  please — wed- 
ding bells  I" 

"Oh,  really!"  only  faintly  suggested  the  exiled 
young  Englishman's  simple  delight  at  anything  so 
"homely,"  as  he  called  it;  "I'll  have  a  look  at  me 
'topper'  to-night,  by  Jove !" 

260 


A   LAUGH    AND    A   BLOW 

"What  weel  you  wager  that  I  cannort  give  you 
at  once  the  nems?" 

"Is  this  a  club  or  what  is  it?"  queried  the 
stranger,  and  they  all  understood. 

"Oh,  I  weel  nort  mention  the  lady's  nem,  gentle- 
men, have  no  fear  of  that,"  said  D'Estrees,  his  face 
very  pale,  his  voice  vibrating  peculiarly,  so  that 
the  stranger  turned  in  his  chair  and  watched  him 
with  interest. 

"I'll  lay  you  one-half  your  wine-chits  for  the 
month,"  came  from  the  cautious  Scot  and  they  all 
laughed. 

"The  young  medico  avocat  on  the  'Boston'  who 
defended  Fellowes  defended  hees  future  brother- 
een-law — and — I'll  trouble  you  to  sign  that  een 
blank,  eef  you  please,"  cried  the  Italian  excitedly, 
pushing  a  paper  toward  the  Scotchman  who  signed. 

Then  the  Japanese  "boy"  entered  with  a  tray 
laden  with  a  little  colony  of  Tanzan,  a  bowl  of  ice, 
quinine  and  bitters,  and  the  sacred  name  of  "Glen- 
livet"  written  large ;  and  all  but  the  Italian  made 
combinations  therefrom,  the  "boy"  unsolicited  had 
brought  him  his  "D.  O.  M."  in  a  tiny  glass,  which 
he  sipped  daintily.  Then  when  they  all  sat  back  sat- 
isfied with  their  brewings,  D'Estrees  leaned  foF- 
ward  glass  in  hand,  his  eyes  alight,  and  remarked : 

261 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

"I  have  a  toast  to  offer,  weel  you  dreenk  weet 
me?  May  a  nem'less  American  find  honey  left 
where  a  nem'less  European  has  already  seeped, 
under  the  'Ippon  Matsu'  I" 

"You  scoundrel!"  shouted  the  stranger,  and  his 
fist  flew  out  across  the  table.  There  was  a  mo- 
ment's confusion  and  the  Scotchman  locked  the 
door,  while  the  Italian  who  had  forgotten  all  lan- 
guages but  his  own  got  up  from  the  floor.  But 
when  he  was  on  his  feet,  Captain  Fitchett's  hand 
went  out  again  and  took  him  by  the  collar  and  shook 
a  retraction  out  of  him,  word  for  word. 

"Eet  ees  true,  what  I  have  said!"  hissed  the  doc- 
tor between  each  enforced  word,  English  returning 
to  him. 

"Well,  I  say  it's  a  lie  1  Now,  then — go  ahead — 
repeat  what  I  told  you  and  be  quick  about  it,  too !" 
And  when  it  was  over,  he  flung  the  half-strangled 
man  from  him,  as  he  would  have  a  discarded  glove, 
and  D'Estrees  fell  against  the  door,  felt  blindly  for 
the  handle,  tugged  at  it,  unlocked  it,  and  fled. 

Then  Fitchett  sat  down  and  deliberately  took 
out  a  huge  blue  silk  handkerchief  and  slowly  wiped 
his  face,  neck,  and  hands,  and  the  others  stood  and 
watched  him  smiling,  glorying  in  the  common  blood 
they  shared  with  him. 

262 


A   LAUGH    AND   A   BLOW 

"It's  a  darned  hot  night,  and  it'll  rain  before  an- 
other morning,"  was  all  he  said  for  sometime.  A 
little  later  he  added: 

"They  are  my  friends  at  'Ippon  Matsu,'  gentle- 
men; and  that  Dago  lied,"  and  the  gray  eyes  chal- 
lenged in  turn  those  of  the  other  two,  before  he 
went  on:  "I  guess"  (and  the  two  listeners  knew 
him  for  exactly  what  he  was)  "if  we  do  live  out  here 
away  from  home  eyes  to  help  keep  us  straight,  a 
good  woman's  name  is  still  a  sacred  thing  among 
us,  I  take  it,"  was  all  the  explanation  he  vouch- 
safed, and  they  insisted  on  shaking  his  hand  much 
to  his  disgust;  and  then  the  German  consul  strolled 
in  with  a  privileged  air,  and  the  game  went  on. 

Teodoro  D'Estrees'  ruling  passion  was  vanity, 
and  after  one  look  at  his  face  in  the  mirror  in  his 
own  hall,  he  packed  a  dress-suit  case,  wrote  a  note 
to  the  old  French  doctor  up  on  the  hill  (whose  re- 
tirement had  given  the  Italian  his  practice)  turn- 
ing over  to  him  his  patients  temporarily,  offering 
too  large  a  bonus  to  admit  of  refusal.  Then 
D'Estrees  went  at  once  on  board  the  Nippon  Yusen 
steamer  which  sailed  for  Kobe  at  midnight  that 
night.  And  no  one,  not  even  the  Frenchman,  knew 
his  whereabouts  for  two  months.  Robb  regretted 
that  evening  to  the  end  of  his  life. 

263 


PEACE   AND   THE    VICES 

The  physical  wound  on  D'Estrees'  face  from 
Fitchett's  blow,  wore  off  far  more  quickly  than  the 
moral  on  his  soul.  The  man  drifted  about  no 
longer  satisfied  with  himself.  The  memory  of  evil 
done  is  (at  no  time,  nor  to  anyone  who  ever  sinned) 
a  pleasant  companion.  Surely  no  one  but  a  saint 
could  have  conceived  of  the  necessity  of  any  further 
hell! 

The  day  after  the  scene  at  the  club,  Dell  received 
a  large  package  and  a  note,  brought  by  a  Russian 
sailor  to  the  door.  Robb  was  with  her  when  it 
came  and  cut  the  string  with  his  penknife  and 
watched  the  girl's  pretty  delight  and  wonder,  as 
the  seductions  of  many  yards  of  gorgeous  white 
Chinese  brocade  poured  over  her  lap  on  to  the  floor 
about  her  feet. 

"Where's  the  letter?  Quick,  do  find  it!  I  can't 
imagine  who  could  have  sent  me  such  a  thing  as 
this — why — "  her  eyes  once  upon  the  paper's  con- 
tents her  voice  died  away,  and  presently  she  looked 
up  into  Robb's  face  with  tears  running  down  her 
own,  and  silently  handed  him  the  note. 

"I  am  passing  through  on  my  steamer,  out  of 
my  usual  course.  I  leave  for  Port  Arthur  in  an 
hour.  I  wish  I  could  tell  you  of  this  great  silent, 

264 


A   LAUGH    AND    A    BLOW 

creeping  Russia — but  I  can't,  she's  my  boss.  Some 
day  your  children  will  study  what  I  know  and  re- 
cite it  at  school.  And  that  brings  me  to  what  I 
want  to  say:  I  heard  last  night  the  news  of  your 
engagement  to  a  Navy  man.  I'm  glad  he's  an 
American.  I  inquired  around  to-day,  and  I  hear 
he's  the  right  thing;  and  so  all  I've  got  to  say  is 
that  I  hope  you'll  be  as  happy  as  I  know  he  will. 
I  was  bringing  you  over  this  parcel  anyhow  and 
now  I've  heard  the  news,  perhaps  you'll  kindly  ac- 
cept it  as  a  wedding  present  from — Manthy  and 
me.  I  took  her  some  like  it  when  I  went  home  and 
she  made  such  a  fuss  about  it,  I  wanted  you  should 
have  some  too.  It  wouldn't  do  for  a  wedding-dress, 
would  it?  I  liked  getting  it.  I  made  believe 
things — to  myself.  I  do,  sometimes.  I  guess  I'm 
lonely.  The  kind  of  thoughts  I  have  can't  hurt 
you,  not  a  bit.  It's  just  the  same  now  as  before, 
as  far  as  I  am  concerned — it  couldn't  be,  that's  all. 
But  I'd  like  to  know  first  rate,  as  years  go  on,  if 
you  don't  mind — and  he  don't — I'd  like  to  know 
once  in  a  while,  just  to  which  port  to  consign  the 
freight  of  my  very  best  thoughts,  when  I  send  them 
out  to  you,  as  I've  got  to  do  till  the  end.  God  bless 
you,  dear.  Good-by. 

"EZRA    FlTCHETT." 

265 


PEACE   AND    THE   VICES 

Robb  had  to  choke  down  something  in  his  own 
throat  before  he  could  quiet  Adele,  now  openly 
given  over  to  woe  and  self-reproach. 

"Even  if  I  had  not  given  myself  to  you,"  she 
finally  confessed  in  tones  of  deep  abasement, 
"I  never,  never  should  have — flirted  again  as  long 
as  I  live,  never !  This  man  and — that  other — the 
two  extremes  of  masculine  love,  have  cured  me," 
and  Robb  had  the  tact  not  to  laugh. 

"Adele,  it  isn't  just  you — you  pretty  tantalizing 
thing — it's  what  you  represent:  the  immutable 
feminine,  which  we  men  began  to  fear  was  be- 
coming extinct — and  so  when  we  do  find  it  we  all 
go  a  little  mad,  I  suppose,"  he  remarked  sighing — 
for  the  others. 

Before  morning  the  warm  rain  began  to  fall; 
gently  at  first  and  then  in  great  whirling  screaming 
gusts.  This  continued  for  four  hot,  sticky,  almost 
unendurable,  days  and  nights ;  and  when  it  cleared, 
the  scorching  summer  was  at  an  end. 


266 


CHAPTER    XVI 

LAST   WEEKS   IN   NAGASAKI 

"A soft  star  trembles  through  the  drifting  clouds." 

IT  was  many  weeks  before  a  medical  board  of 
survey,  of  which  the  American  fleet  surgeon 
was  senior  member,  pronounced  Lieutenant  Fel- 
lowes  to  be  in  a  fit  condition  to  return  to  the  United 
States  by  mail  steamer,  pursuant  to  his  sentence. 
There  were  days  when  even  Dora  was  not  al- 
lowed to  see  him,  and  Soeur  Agnes's  cool  disci- 
plined hand  alone  served  him,  the  very  aloofness 
of  her  quiet  face  giving  him  a  feeling  of  deep  peace. 
The  excess  of  her  energy  had  once,  during  a  time 
when  the  little  hospital  was  almost  empty,  over- 
flowed into  the  making  of  a  flower-garden,  now 
repaying  her  generously.  This  became  Kent's 
daily  interest,  and  almost  the  sole  topic  of  conver- 
sation between  them,  for  he  spoke  just  enough 
French  to  confine  thought  within  safe  limits,  for  one 
in  his  condition.  So  he  knew  when  the  hibiscus 
had  begun  to  fade ;  the  miniature  maples  to  show 

267 


PEACE  AND    THE    VICES 

the  first  signs  of  a  later  radiance;  the  quick  sprout- 
ing and  promise  among  the  chrysanthemums;  the 
marvel  of  the  constancy  of  the  amber-colored  core- 
opsis. And  yet  he  seldom  left  his  long  Chinese 
chair  on  the  broad  veranda,  which  Dora's  insight 
had  so  placed  that  his  back  was  turned  to  the  bay ; 
and  his  eyes  rested  on  the  ring  of  trees  about  the 
hospital,  or  the  lesser  growing  things  about,  each 
intent  on  its  own  little  silent  mission.  Rest,  silence, 
nature,  and  the  sense  of  distance  above  the  busy 
tangle  of  ordinary  life  below,  on  the  other  side  of 
the  great  screen  of  trees,  slowly  brought  back 
health  to  mind  and  body  alike.  With  health  re- 
turned its  unrest,  interest  in  the  world,  the  great 
weariness  of  subjective  thought,  and  his  convales- 
cence retrograded. 

He  stood  back  from  his  own  life  and  groped  for 
the  meaning  of  things,  the  reason  of  his  recurrent 
mania,  the  cause  of  that  fatal  dependence  on  some- 
thing outside  of  himself  to  renew  his  balance — not 
only  mental  and  moral  but  physical — in  these 
strange  conditions  of  cumulative  psychical  agony. 

He  was  not  a  religious  man  and  found  no  com- 
fort in  symbolism,  nor  in  any  of  the  other  avenues 
of  introverted  thought.  An  idea  that  found  no  ex- 
ponent in  action  was  a  miscarriage  of  life's  purpose. 

268 


LAST    WEEKS    IN    NAGASAKI 

To  use  a  muscle  was  to  keep  it  from  deterioration. 
He  had  always  had  a  strong  sense  of  the  dispropor- 
tion between  his  energies  and  the  needs  of  his 
environment. 

One  day  Robb's  short  speech  in  the  court-room 
returned  to  Kent.  Was  reaction  from  desuetude 
at  the  root  of  his  vice ?  Was  it  psychical?  Or  an 
anaemic  condition  of  the  circulation,  as  Robb  held. 
Was  it  possible  that  cure  would  come  if  the  needs 
of  his  soul  were  fed  in  the  one  case,  and  of  his  body 
in  the  other?  With  Dora's  help,  her  love,  her 
inspiration  perhaps  some  day  it  would  all  combine 
to  give  him  his  freedom.  Then  suddenly  a  thought 
struck  him  between  the  eyes  like  a  blow ;  and  Sister 
Agnes  found  him  lying  unconscious  when  she  came ; 
and  she  sent  two  messengers  flying  over  the  hills, 
one  for  the  French  doctor,  and  the  other  for  the 
wife.  But  she  brought  him  round  before  either 
came;  only  there  was  a  look  in  his  eyes  she  had 
not  seen  before. 

With  consciousness  returned  that  terrible 
thought  (already  part  of  his  being  thenceforth, 
through  that  familiar  miracle  of  mental  alchemy)  : 
"If  the  great  chance  of  war  should  come  nowl 
Now  while  I  am  thus  temporarily  stricken  off  the 
fighting  list!  If  there  is  goodness  encompassing 

269 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

us  I  will  be  spared  that  I  That  one  thing !  I'll  be 
spared  that!" 

Only  in  sleep  did  this  leave  him,  or  when  alone 
with  his  wife,  yielding  to  the  unfailing  regenera- 
tion that  reached  him  through  the  baptism  of  her 
love. 

To  speak  a  dreaded  thought  is  to  give  it  added 
vitality,  and  he  was  superstitiously  silent;  but  not 
until  this  obsession  slowly  wore  away,  did  his  real 
recovery  begin.  No  one  knew  what  it  was  that  so 
mysteriously  delayed  a  restoration  fully  warranted 
by  the  diagnosis  that  found  no  organic  trouble  with 
the  patient's  heart.  As  September  drew  to  a  close, 
and  she  had  been  assured  all  fear  of  danger  was 
past  but  that  Kent  could  not  be  sent  home  for  many 
weeks  more,  Dora  insisted  that  life  at  "Ippon  Mat- 
su"  should  go  on  its  way  bravely,  merrily,  rejoicing 
that  all  would  soon  be  well.  Anything  less  would 
suggest  a  secret  cause  for  shame  and  sorrow,  not 
for  one  moment  warranted — to  her  staunch  mind 
— by  Kent's  "unhappiness,"  as  she  always  called 
it,  on  the  very  rare  occasions  when  she  referred  to 
their  trouble  at  all. 

Talty  upheld  her  in  this  decision,  sharing  the 
family  preference  for  a  flag  flying  to  a  flag  furled. 

And  so  "Ippon  Matsu"  brooded  under  its  green 
270 


LAST   WEEKS    IN    NAGASAKI 

wings  many  happy,  chirping  hours,  nestling  a  little 
blindly  against  the  warm  maternal  heart  of  things. 

The  "Boston"  was  in  the  Tategami  dock;  "high 
and  dry,  southern  exposure,  superb  view,  noise  to 
beat  the  German  band,  board  and  lodging  one  dol- 
lar Mex.  a  day,"  was  Jack's  summing  up  of  the 
situation. 

The  flag-ship  remained  because  the  admiral 
thought  that  he  had  forgotten  more  about  docking 
a  ship  than  "old  Pehoe"  ever  had  known. 

There  was  tennis  and  inefficacious  cake  at  the 
club  twice  a  week,  hops  on  every  flag-ship  in  the 
harbor;  dances  at  the  hotel;  teas,  tiffins,  dinners 
everywhere.  A  perfect  epidemic  of  social  energy 
had  broken  out  now  that  the  worst  of  the  heat  was 
over,  and  the  ships  still  lingered.  Imogen  and  Dell 
took  a  trip  to  Unzen,  and  a  third  of  the  American 
Navy  acted  as  escort;  and  the  usual  jokes  were 
made  anent  the  geysers  named  "Middle  Class 
Hell,"  "The  Loud  Wailing,"  and  "The  Thousand 
Odors." 

Even  Imogen  bloomed  stuntedly  in  her  humor- 
less (and  yet  comical)  way,  and  was  the  promul- 
gator  of  many  and  varied  forms  of  human  restless- 
ness known  as  pleasure.  There  were  picnics  on  Rat 
Island  where  nobody  did  anything  with  the  serene 

271 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

conscience  of  the  Orient.  And  always,  when  imagi- 
nation grew  weary,  there  was  the  usual  daily  bath- 
ing down  the  bay  at  Pappenberg;  day  in  and  day 
out,  summer  after  summer,  by  the  wise,  and  rather 
weary,  old  residents.  All  there  was  of  European 
society  the  Americans  met  there  on  the  beach, 
which  was  dotted  with  a  score  of  tea-tables,  fully 
and  fastidiously  equipped  by  the  small  army  of 
native  servants. 

The  flotilla  of  waiting  house-boats,  and  sam- 
pans, tugged  restlessly  at  their  long  ropes  eager  to 
get  back  to  their  play  with  the  wind  and  tide. 

Undressing  in  their  house-boats  (on  which  the 
sendo  quickly  rigged  up  strange  canvas  closets  for 
the  purpose)  the  company  soon  reappeared  and 
plunged  therefrom  into  the  blue  waters  of  the  bay. 
Men  leaving  the  town  grim  and  white  with  the 
heat  became  in  a  few  minutes  rollicking  boys,  and 
bald-heads  challenged  gray-heads  with  all  of  boys' 
self-vaunting.  The  women  and  the  children  bathed 
a  little  apart,  that  their  timidity  might  escape  ridi- 
cule. Then  followed  the  second  disappearance  into 
the  house-boats,  from  whence  came  smothered 
shouts  for  towels,  or  mislaid  shoes;  and  now  and 
then  a  howl  of  laughter  from  the  huge  house-boat 
of  the  bachelors'  mess. 

272 


LAST    WEEKS    IN    NAGASAKI 

From  this  eclipse  they  came  forth  one  and  all 
ravenous  for  tea;  and  swarmed  about  the  little 
tables  like  a  species  of  great  white  fly — for  all  the 
world  wore  white.  The  bachelors  were  distributed 
about  among  the  tea-centres,  gratefully  eating  as 
little  as  they  could  and  still  survive  those  sudden 
gnawing  pangs. 

And  by  and  by  when  the  island's  own  shadow 
overspread  them,  the  tables  were  folded,  the  tea 
paraphernalia  packed  as  only  the  Japanese  can, 
the  boats  fell  into  line  or  spread  out  fan-like,  and 
"society"  went  home  through  the  twilight.  Sing- 
ing sometimes  as  they  went,  old  songs  that  unite 
all  English-speaking  hearts  exiled  from  home,  all 
over  the  face  of  the  world — songs  which  bring 
back  much  the  same  memories,  irrespective  of  many 
accents. 

Like  one  big  tolerant  family  the  Americans, 
English,  Scotch  and  Irish — cooled  off,  some  very 
happy,  some  a  little  sleepy,  all  a  little  wistful — 
drifted  up  the  pretty  bay  whose  hill-sides  are 
wooded  to  the  foot. 

When  all  else  of  Adele's  life  in  Japan  became 
blurred  by  time  and  change  and  elbowing  circum- 
stance, that  pensive  home-bound  hour,  with 
Leigh  beside  her,  remained  forever  a  thing  apart 

273 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

in  her  memory ;  untranslatably  tender  to  hearts  that 
had  not  shared  it. 

"If  it  could  only  go  on  forever  like  this,"  she 
brooded  to  him,  as  (now  always  behind  the  others) 
they  lingered  in  the  summer-house  at  "Ippon  Mat- 
su,"  for  the  good-night  benediction  given  and  taken 
in  the  kindly  night,  now  fallen. 

"May  the  day  never  come,  sweetheart,  when  you 
will  pray  for  any  change,  so  that  it  be  a  change, 
for  that  is  the  sign  of  a  starving  heart.  You  are 
happy !  That  is  as  it  should  be.  You  were  meant 
for  happiness,  dear,  it  brings  out  the  best  of  you. 
Do  you  know  to-night  a  real  radiance  comes  from 
you  here  in  the  dark!  A  sort  of  phosphorescence 
— is  it  love,  do  you  suppose?  Perhaps  if  very, 
very  perfect,  love  does  become  visible — else  what 
should  be  that  light?  Tell  me,  is  it  love?  Oh,  my 
darling,  why  can  we  not  all  (and  always)  take  this 
great  gift  of  life  and  just  be  happy  as  you  and  I 
are  to-night?" 

A  little  later  she  said  : 

"Well,  for  one  thing  let's  agree  not  to  expect 
perfection  until  we're  sure  we're  giving  it.  There's 
a  lot  in  that,  I  think.  And  I'll  go  further  than 
that,  I  wish  as  time  went  on  you'd  acquire  a  taste 
for  a  slight  imperfection." 

274 


LAST    WEEKS    IN    NAGASAKI 

"Oh,  I  have  it  now !"  he  laughed,  and  of  course 
she  punished  him  by  a  system  of  small  reprisals 
quite  their  own;  over  which  they  were  still  dis- 
puting, when  Mammy's  voice,  full  of  a  great  ten- 
derness, came  to  them  through  the  dark: 

"O — O  Miss  Dell !  You-all  bes'  come  on  in  ter 
dinner,  an'  not  gobble  up  all  de  dessert  de  fus' 
thing,  den  yer  ain'  got  no  inclunation  fo'  de 
soup." 

"Soup !"  groaned  Robb.  "O  tempora,  O  mores ! 
O  Icarus!  I,  like  thee,  flew  too  near  the  sun!" 

Then  the  three  days  in  October  given  over  to 
the  Osuwa  Matsuri  came  and  went,  when  Nagasa- 
ki repeats  the  festival  of  the  Guilds  of  Florence  of 
the  Fourteenth  Century,  and  all  the  world  turns 
child  again  and  runs  about  the  streets,  frantic  lest 
something  be  missed. 

Julie  and  Haru,  with  a  rehabilitated  Yama- 
guchi  for  escort  beside  their  jinrikisha,  followed  in 
the  wake  of  the  great,  green  "Dragons,"  from 
morning  till  night,  enjoying  the  delights  of  pro- 
tected terror.  Their  elders  felt  for  symbols  amidst 
all  that  bewildering  pomp  and  glitter,  and  strange 
theatric  conventions;  but  in  vain;  even  among  the 
educated  natives  much  of  the  meaning  of  one  of 
the  most  elaborate  festivals  of  Japan  is  lost  in  the 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

long  vista  of  centuries  through  which  it  has  wan- 
dered down  to  the  present  day. 

Not  until  Soeur  Agnes's  chrysanthemums  were 
in  full  bloom,  did  Kent  Fellowes  walk  down 
to  "Ippon  Matsu,"  and  take  his  place  once  more 
in  life's  procession  that  halts  for  no  one.  The  last 
glimpse  they  had  of  the  faithful  Sister  was  just 
before  Kent,  his  wife  beside  him,  dipped  down  over 
the  hill  when  he  stopped  and  looked  back.  Sister 
Agnes,  thinking  they  had  gone,  was  down  upon  her 
knees  in  the  kiku  bed,  pinching  off  buds  of  no 
promise  that  the  others  might  flourish,  just  as  she 
pruned  her  own  daily  flower-bed  of  thoughts; 
and  her  face  was  hidden  under  the  veil  and  wimple. 

The  younger  officers  of  the  American  Squadron, 
who  were  all  more  or  less  under  the  spell  of  Adele's 
unquenchable  charm,  and  who  openly  worshipped 
Dora  with  great  lumps  in  their  throats  that  pre- 
vented idle  speech,  were  inclined  to  give  the  Fel- 
lowes' party  a  hilarious  send-off,  the  day  they  sailed 
on  the  Pacific  Mail  steamer  for  the  United  States. 
But  the  older  men  promptly  vetoed  it,  having  a 
deeper  insight  into  hearts.  To  keep  down  the  num- 
ber, they  drew  lots  as  to  the  privilege  of  going  to 
the  steamer  the  day  of  sailing. 

The  admiral's  cruise  was  at  an  end,  and  much 
276 


LAST    WEEKS    IN    NAGASAKI 

to  his  regret  he  had  been  ordered  home ;  going  via 
Suez.  These  last  months  of  his  last  command 
afloat  were  full  of  pathos  to  him.  Not  even  to  his 
wife  could  he  put  into  words  what  it  meant  to  him. 
Nothing  that  the  service  could  offer  him  ashore, 
would  for  one  instant  compensate  for  the  renuncia- 
tion of  supreme  command  over  his  squadron,  his 
own  will  dominated  alone  by  the  winds  of  heaven; 
the  smell  of  the  sea  his  rightful  incense ;  the  limits 
of  the  horizon  his  ever-changing  empire;  far,  far 
away,  thank  Providence !  from  bureaucracy,  and 
meddling,  ignorant,  political  fingers.  They  were 
his  last  days  of  freedom  and  he  knew  it,  and 
he  groaned  aloud  as  he  tramped  the  poop-deck 
reserved  to  his  use. 

So  Mrs.  Titterington  went  home  with  the  others. 
Imogen  remained,  and  she  said  and  thought  that 
it  was  Jack's  wish ;  which  is  monument  enough  for 
one  man's  honest  endeavor  to  preserve  social  order, 
all  too  ready  to  crumble. 

Imogen  had  urged  Adele  to  remain  with  her  on 
the  station,  and  for  once  Robb  formed  a  sympa- 
thetic alliance  with  her,  and  went  suddenly  blind 
as  to  her  faults  of  character.  But  Adele  and  Mam- 
my after  many  consultations,  finally  decided  to  go 
with  the  others  and  help  them  through  the  year  of 

277 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

exile  ahead  of  them.  Adele  knew  by  the  cost  of 
this  decision  that  it  was  right.  Imogen  (who  had 
counted  much  upon  the  reflected  glory  of  her 
strangely  popular  sister-in-law)  became  so  abusive 
the  instant  she  decided  to  leave,  that  the  burden  of 
Adele's  resolution  seemed  lifted  from  her,  save 
when  she  met  Robb's  reproachful  eyes. 

It  was  a  sunny  day,  cold  with  the  nip  of  winter 
in  the  air,  when  they  bade  farewell  to  "Ippon 
Matsu,"  nothing  but  the  leaven  of  homely  detail 
preventing  tears.  Whether  the  upflung  arms  of  the 
old  pine  over  the  house  bade  them  begone,  or  cried 
to  heaven  that  they  might  remain,  they  could  not 
tell;  but  as  they  slowly  steamed  down  the  bay,  it 
was  the  last  thing  they  saw ;  all  except  Kent,  whose 
eyes  clung  to  his  ship's  flag. 

But  the  good-by  on  the  steamer's  deck  was  after 
all  a  right  merry  one.  Half  the  foreign  residents 
of  the  warm-hearted  little  town  were  there.  The 
bachelors'  mess  had  achieved  an  imposing,  un- 
Japanese,  composition  in  golden  chrysanthemums 
which,  with  similar  offerings,  lay  at  Adele's  feet. 
To  Dora  they  brought  a  single  late  rose,  or  a  hot- 
house carnation,  and  the  English  boy  who  pro- 
duced one  mauve-colored  orchid  looted  from  a 
great  man's  conservatory,  was  cheered  for  his 

278 


LAST    WEEKS    IN    NAGASAKI 

prowess  if  not  his  principles.  Young  Sault  had 
waited  apart  till  they  had  all  paid  tribute  to  true 
womanliness  in  Dora's  form,  and  then  he  had  ad- 
vanced from  cover  and  smuggled  into  her  unwill- 
ing hand  a  parting  tiny  gift  of  old  gold  lacquer 
which  represented,  as  she  knew  at  a  glance,  every 
dollar  he  had  had  "on  the  books."  He  stood  be- 
fore her  flushed  and  glorying  in  the  severe  scold- 
ing he  was  receiving  for  his  extravagance. 

"You've  taught  me  such  a  lot,  don't  you  know, 
Mrs.  Fellowes,"  he  muttered,  biting  his  lips  to  keep 
from  laughing  from  the  pure  joy  of  giving  lavishly 
for  once  in  his  life. 

"The  difference  between  Makusu  and  Nabashi- 
ma  or  between  old  Imari  and  its  imitations,  and — 
and  a  few  other  things,  perhaps — what  is  that  to 
this  exquisite  priceless  thing,  you  naughty  boy!" 
she  cried. 

"Well,  I  guess  it's  the  'few  other  things'  that 
got  me !  Anyhow,  lots  of  things  look  different  since 
you've  been  so  good  to  me,  Mrs.  Fellowes.  I've 
learned  the  difference  between  the  real  and  the  imi- 
tation in  heaps  of  things  beside  Imari.  I  know 
now  what  I  did  not  before,  that  it's  a  fellow's  busi- 
ness to  hustle  along,  all  right,  but  to  think  a  little 
of  his  elbows  and  umbrella  and  other  people's  ribs 

279 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

and  eyes;  that's  the  great  act,  after  all!  And — 
and  all  that!  You  know  what  I'm  after.  Father 
says  I  have  the  vocabulary  of  a  bootblack,  and  I 
guess  that's  about  the  size  of  it." 

Imogen  was  conspicuously  present,  with  her  nine 
historic  remedies  for  sea-sickness  her  sole  topic  of 
smileless  conversation,  and  yet  furnishing  uncon- 
sciously the  "comic  relief"  that  prevented  the  ex- 
pression of  many  strong  emotions,  as  well  kept 
under  on  this  occasion. 

Jack  Talty  was  here,  there,  and  everywhere, 
easily  tracked  by  the  wake  of  following  laugh- 
ter. 

The  admiral's  beautiful  gracious  wife  held  a 
court  of  her  own  a  little  apart  from  the  others,  the 
admiral  himself  sunk  in  undisguised  melancholy 
from  which  she  sought  in  vain  to  rally  him. 

Kent  was  already  lying  in  his  long  chair,  bundled 
up  to  the  eyes  in  rugs,  and  thither  went  in  turn  the 
older  officers  with  words  of  faltering  cheer. 

Julie,  held  for  the  last  time  in  O  Haru's  loving 
arms,  received  too  her  meed  of  attention.  Half 
the  bachelors  in  town  brought  her  a  native  toy 
to  help  her — and  her  elders — through  the  long 
voyage  ahead. 

Nearby — tall,  erect,  silent,  ever  a  striking 
280 


LAST    WEEKS    IN    NAGASAKI 

figure — stood  Mammy,  with  restless  eyes  roving 
from  group  to  group. 

No  one  had  need  of  her  just  then.  Hours 
ago  she  had  placed  all  the  staterooms  of  her 
party  in  readiness  for  whatever  betided  outside; 
and  once  in  the  Inland  Sea  there  was  time  for  more 
leisurely  unpacking.  Now  and  then,  when  an 
officer  of  the  American  fleet  went  up  to  Mammy 
and  bade  her  farewell,  shaking  her  warmly  by  the 
hand,  her  stern  face  melted  into  that  smile  they 
all  knew  so  well,  and  the  beautiful  voice  made  its 
pleased  response. 

She  alone  of  the  whole  household  had  heard, 
through  the  colored  steward  of  the  club,  of  the 
scene  in  the  poker-room,  of  which  the  whole  town 
was  now  whispering.  Not  until  all  communication 
with  the  shore  had  ceased  and  the  steamer  was  well 
under  way,  would  Mammy  feel  safe  from  the 
machinations  of  the  Italian,  whose  blackness  of 
heart  she  greatly  overestimated,  with  her  innate 
gift  for  drama.  In  the  meantime  she  deeply  en- 
joyed her  role  as  secret  detective  in  that  apparently 
light-hearted  company. 

Later  on  Adele  and  Robb  were  seated  in  the 
"Social  Hall,"  holding  hands  face  to  face,  white 
and  smileless  with  the  pain  of  parting,  which  they 

281 


PEACE   AND    THE   VICES 

had  not  fully  realized  until  now  in  the  midst  of  it, 
with  the  first  gong  impending. 

"I  wish  to  heaven  I  had  insisted  on  your  marry- 
ing me  here  at  once,  and  then  you  could  have  stayed 
out  here  on  the  station  till  my  cruise  was  over," 
fumed  he. 

"I  did  want  to." 

"Adele!  it  isn't  too  late!  I'll  find  Jack,"  and 
he  was  half  way  to  the  door;  and  not  until  he  heard 
her  laugh  did  he  see  the  absurdity  of  it  and  return 
to  her  side,  his  eyes  glued  to  hers,  an  anguish  in 
his  heart  that  seemed  unendurable. 

"Well,  the  day  after  I  reach  you  at  the  end  of 
the  cruise,  swear  that  you'll  marry  me  ?  No  fuss, 
no  feathers!" 

"Dear,  I  love  the  fuss  and  I  have  a  special  yearn- 
ing after  the  feathers  of  life.  It's  one  of  the  im- 
perfections you'll  have  to  face,  I'm  afraid." 

"You  don't  mean  a  church  wedding,  and  ushers, 
and  things?"  No  less  an  emotion  than  horror  was 
written  upon  his  face. 

"If  by  'things'  you  mean  bridesmaids,  my  reply 
is  yes.  I  want  the  whole  ceremony  that  gives  me 
to  you  for  life  to  be  very,  very  beautiful,  with 
music  running  through  it  all,  from  the:  'Dearly 
beloved,  we  are  gathered  together  here  in  the  sight 

282 


LAST    WEEKS    IN    NAGASAKI 

of  God,'  down  to :  'that  ye  may  so  live  together  in 
this  life.'  It  must  all  stand  for  harmony,  to  the 
ear,  to  the  eye,  to  the  heart.  I  like,  Leigh,  dear, 
to  look  upon  it  as  a  sacrament,  not  a  social  festivity 
only." 

"Ah,  you  women  love  symbols,"  he  murmured, 
his  soul  full  of  untranslatable  poesy,  as  he  watched 
her  uplifted  eyes,  the  best  that  was  in  him  stand- 
ing bare-headed  before  her,  worshipping.  A  mo- 
ment later  he  added:  "May  I  tell  you  why  I  feel 
absolutely  sure  of  my  future  happiness,  sweetheart? 
Because  you  have  the  same  blood  in  your  veins  that 
Dora  and  Jack  have.  The  bacillus  of  divorce  lies 
in  each  of  their  marriages — the  possibility  of  chaos 
and  destruction  lies  in  all  marriages — but  each 
goes  bravely  on  with  it,  one  with  love  to  help,  one 
without  even  that.  There's  good  strong  stuff  in 
you,  my  darling,  and  I  hope  I  may  remain  worthy 
of  it,  not  fall  back  upon  it  unworthily." 

But    the    girl's    thoughts    were    still    on    her 
wedding-day,  and  he  laughed  aloud  when  she  said 
dreamily: 

"And  Mammy  is  to  sit  in  a  pew,  way  up  in  front 
all  by  herself,  where  she  can  see  my  train.  And 
I'll  wear  Captain  Fitchett's  brocade,  veiled  a  little 
with  chiffon.  Oh,  and  I'll  have  my  picture  taken 

283 


PEACE   AND   THE   VICES 

and  sent  to   him!     Isn't  that   a   heavenly  idea, 
Leigh?" 

"It  is  a  heavenly  idea,  sweetheart,"  he  said 
tenderly. 

"And  I  want  piles  and  piles  of  officers  there  in 
special  full-dress  uniform — Leigh,  will  they  wear 
it  if  I  ask  them?" 

"Why,  of  course,  dear  child." 

"And  later  I'll  cut  the  cake  with  your  sword,  as 
they  do  in  the  Army;  and  I'll  have  a  ring,  and  a 
thimble,  and  a  sixpence  in  the  wedding-cake;  and 
— and  then  we'll  go  away  together,  love,  just  you 
and  I,  and  the  door  of  my  girlhood  will  be  locked 
forever  behind  me!" 

"Adele,  Adele,  how  can  I  wait?"  She  clung  to 
him,  sobbing. 

"You  will  be  very,  very  good  to  me,  Leigh?  Oh, 
you  must  be  very  kind  to  me !  And  love  me,  love 
me,  love  me  always?" 

"You  drive  me  mad,"  he  muttered  choked  with 
feeling.  He  disengaged  himself  gently  and  walked 
away  striving  for  control,  that  she  might  not  go 
from  him  thus  unhappily. 

Presently  he  returned  and  sat  once  more  beside 
her,  master  of  his  own  mood  and  hers,  speaking 
in  the  light  tone  that  best  quieted  her,  he  said : 

284 


LAST   WEEKS    IN   NAGASAKI 

"Well,  if  you  are  determined,  little  woman,  on. 
having  all  the  'feathers'  aforesaid,  please  for  pity's 
sake  have  the  beastly  things  all  ready  to  tie  on  when 
I  get  free  of  the  ship." 

"They  don't  'tie'  on,  but  I'll  have  them  ready, 
sir,  at  your  command,"  and  she  saluted  him  with 
her  one  free  hand  in  pale  tearful  imitation  of  her  old 
blithesome  self,  and  the  pathos  of  it  went  to  his 
heart  suddenly  and  for  a  few  minutes  her  pretty 
ears  burned  with  his  ravings. 

Then  the  first  gong  sounded  and  their  eyes  laid 
in  a  store  for  future  hungry  hours. 

"I  don't  care  if  the  telescopes  of  Europe,  Asia, 
Africa,  and  America  are  upon  us,  I'm  going  to  kiss 
you  good-by!"  And  he  did,  but  no  one  saw  them 
save  the  cupids  on  the  frescoed  ceiling,  and  it  was 
right  in  their  line,  and  they  beamed  a  carmine 
approval. 

"I  must  say  one  word  to  Kent !"  He  flew  out 
across  the  gangway  to  the  promenade  deck.  The 
two  men  had  but  a  moment  together,  with  close- 
clasped  hands. 

"A  severe  illness  is  a  sort  of  rebirth,  Fellowes. 
You  can  begin  now  almost  with  new  bricks  and 
build  up  to  suit  your  healthiest  self." 

"And  a  year  on  your  brother's  ranch  is  best? 
285 


PEACE   AND   THE   VICES 

I  don't  feel  sure,  Robb;  I  don't  feel  sure!"  mur- 
mured Kent  very  shaken,  very  pale,  leaning  back 
against  his  pillows  in  a  strained  tense  way,  the  doc- 
tor had  no  time  to  relieve. 

"I  know,  Fellowes,  take  my  word  for  it.  Work, 
work,  work !  Let  your  only  leisure  be  spent  in  the 
deep  sleep  that  will  inevitably  come  to  you;  and 
two  quarts,  at  least,  of  milk  a  day — between 
meals!" 

"All  right,  Doctor,  but  I  loathe  the  stuff." 

"You'll  cry  for  it  before  long — cry  like  a  child 
— and  now  good-by,  and  peace  be  with  you  and 
yours,"  and  he  had  to  run  for  the  gangway. 

As  the  steamer  slowly  headed  about,  the  sur- 
rounding boats  stood  away  from  it.  The  great 
coal-barges  with  their  swarm  of  nimble-handed 
humanity,  the  most  rapid  coal-passers  in  the  world 
and  the  cheeriest;  the  steamship's  launch  crowd- 
ed with  the  smiling  waving  townspeople;  Ad- 
miral Titterington's  barge,  in  which  he  sat  in 
glorious  solitude,  his  eyes  clinging  to  a  golden  head 
he  loved ;  the  several  cutters  from  the  other  Amer- 
ican men-of-war  filled  with  officers,  laughing  and 
chaffing  one  another  lest  the  home-longing  in  all 
their  hearts  get  the  better  of  them.  Standing  in 
one  was  Jack,  pantomiming  a  frenzy  of  despair 

286 


LAST    WEEKS    IN    NAGASAKI 

that  made  even  the  Japanese  on-looking  laugh  in 
quick  sympathy.  Imogen  on  the  hotel  launch 
screamed  out  a  forgotten  message  standing  dis- 
traught, dishevelled,  so  near  the  rail  that  a  native 
runner  for  the  hotel  politely  touched  her  on  the 
arm,  whereat  she  whirled  upon  him,  with  abundant 
gesture,  and  so  faded  out  of  sight  and  hearing. 

O  Haru  san  and  the  other  Japanese  servants  at 
"Ippon  Matsu,"  were  in  a  sampan.  After  the 
little  amah's  last  glance  up  at  Julie's  tiny  white 
form  in  the  arms  of  her  black  rival,  she  fell  head- 
long into  her  trailing  sleeve  in  a  paroxysm  of  weep- 
ing ;  and  Yamaguchi  gazed  in  pity  down  upon  the 
shiny  black  head  so  near  his  shoulder,  and  Mammy, 
watching,  formed  a  hasty  conclusion. 

And  so  the  great  home-bound  steamer  sped  down 
the  bay,  past  the  German  flag-ship  where  the  band 
played  Mendelssohn's  "Consolation,"  a  special 
tribute  to  Adele  from  the  captain,  whose  music- 
loving  heart  she  had  won  by  her  singing.  The 
other  ships  silently  dipped  their  flags  in  reply.  The 
little  party  on  the  deck  of  the  steamer  lingered  in 
silence  leaning  on  the  rail,  Kent  among  them,  Dora's 
hand  on  his  arm.  Then  Mammy  called  her  and  she 
left  him.  He  looked  back  and  sought  and  found 
the  flag  of  his  ship  and  something  tore  at  his  heart. 

287 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

A  sound  very  like  a  groan  came  from  him,  and  he 
went  back  to  his  chair,  lying  with  closed  eyes,  and 
his  mouth  a  hard  line  of  bitterest  agony. 

But  after  awhile  it  came  to  pass  that  the  ad- 
miral's wife  came  and  sat  down  in  her  steamer  chair 
on  the  left  side  of  his,  and  after  a  long  look  at  the 
wan  pinched  face  beside  her  she  became  alarmed 
and  leaned  over  and  touched  his  arm.  He  opened 
his  eyes  and  spoke  from  his  soul,  as  often  seems 
easier  to  do  with  strangers  than  to  those  closer  to 
the  inward  life. 

"Suppose  that  war  should  come — Cuba,  Spain, 
it's  in  the  air — now  while  I  am  out  of  it,  like  this !" 
he  said  abruptly. 

It  so  happened  that  she  was  a  fine  woman,  and 
strong  (in  herself  and  in  her  social  relation)  and 
she  understood  at  once  and  said,  smiling  into  his 
face: 

"I  make  you  a  promise — and  I  don't  make  many 
— if  it  comes  you  shall  be  in  it — remember!" 

It  must  have  been  his  weakened  condition  that 
gave  this  daring  statement  from  a  young  woman's 
smiling  lips  sufficient  import  to  bring  him  peace, 
but  it  did. 


288 


CHAPTER    XVII 

THE   WIFE'S    REWARD 

"Rejoice  that  man  is  hurled 

From  change  to  change  unceasingly, 
His  soul's  wing«  never  furled." 

FOUR  months  later  a  man  was  riding  home 
along  a  dead  flat  road,  through  miles  of 
young  orange-trees,  planted  pitilessly  equidistant, 
the  rough  dry  ploughed  earth  beneath  them  unre- 
lieved by  a  flower,  a  blade  of  grass,  a  single  weed. 
The  endless  heart-rending  fight  for  moisture  in  the 
great  valleys  of  Southern  California  leads  to  the 
uprooting  of  all  vegetable  life  save  that  having  a 
market  value.  Over  half  the  year  the  choking 
desert  is  dependent  on  artesian  wells,  and  is  then 
transformed  into  a  wondrous  plenitude  by  the  few 
inches  of  winter  rain,  which  they  were  only  learning 
the  secret  of  hoarding,  by  the  erection  of  reservoirs 
up  among  the  foot-hills  miles  away.  They  were 
facing  a  third  dry  season,  with  Polonius-like  eyes 
magnifying  every  passing  bit  of  flying  fleece  in  the 
relentlessly  blue  sky. 


PEACE   AND    THE    VICES 

In  great  following  clouds  of  dust  the  man  and 
his  horse  went  on,  in  the  easy  cheerful  gallop  of  a 
mustang  who  smells  his  stable,  albeit  three  miles 
away.  As  they  crossed  the  county  road,  beyond 
which  lay  the  Ojitos  Ranch,  a  man  tore  by  at  right 
angles  on  a  high  raw-boned  horse  and  shouted  out, 
tugging  at  his  reins: 

"Captain  Fellowes!  Wait  a  minute."  He 
finally  succeeded  in  partly  checking  his  hard- 
mouthed  beast,  and  turning  about  in  his  saddle  he 
leaned  on  his  horse's  flank,  and  yelled  to  the  other 
horseman : 

"The  'Maine'  has  been  sunk  in  the  harbor 
of  Havana  1  The  papers  say  it  means  war  as 
sure  as  the  Lord  made  little  apples  I  See  you  to- 
morrow at  the  works.  S'long!"  And  in  an  in- 
stant, a  great  ball  of  dust  bowling  away  was  all 
that  marked  his  whereabouts. 

Kent  never  remembered  clearly  the  next  ten  min- 
utes. He  slid  off  his  horse  because  he  could  not 
stay  on,  and  he  stood  leaning  his  weight  against 
the  sweating,  panting  body,  with  one  arm  about  the 
neck  of  the  wondering  animal,  who  turned  his  head 
to  see  what  it  meant;  after  one  obstinate  moment 
of  bracing  for  the  expected  cinch,  which  did  not 
come.  And  Kent  clung  there  for  sheer  support, 

290 


THE    WIFE'S    REWARD 

and  the  touch  of  some  warm  living  thing,  until  the 
first  whirl  of  the  storm  had  passed. 

The  dumb  brute's  nose  nuzzled  against  the 
stricken  man's  shoulder  inquiringly,  and  he  started 
and  raised  his  face  and  with  a  broken  laugh  that 
sounded  strange  in  that  great  sea  of  dust-choked 
silence,  he  said  aloud: 

"You  want  your  supper,  don't  you,  old  fellow? 
I  haven't  forgotten.  You  and  I  will  go  straight 
home — it's  the  best  place  for  us  to-night." 

After  a  little  he  was  able  to  remount  his  horse, 
and  turn  his  head  from  the  county  highway  into 
the  ranch-road,  heading  away  from  the  town, 
where  lay  the  post-office  and  its  one  mail  a  day,  due 
at  six  o'clock.  Kent  went  for  it  every  evening  on 
his  way  home  from  the  water-works  where  his  en- 
gineering studies  at  the  Academy  had  found  an 
unexpected  outlet.  Dazed,  stooping  low  in  his 
saddle,  his  bronzed  face  blanched  with  the  news, 
Kent  went  home,  almost  walking  his  horse  the  whole 
way,  much  to  that  intelligent  beast's  puzzlement. 
Fellowes  had  expanded  into  a  brawny,  dust-colored 
giant,  with  a  hand  as  steady  as  a  blacksmith's.  Be- 
tween his  sad  eyes  was  a  deep  furrow  that  stood  for 
he  alone  knew  how  many  struggles  with  tempta- 
tion, from  all  of  which  he  had  come  off  victorious. 

291 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

The  sun,  and  the  rain,  and  the  wind  had  melted, 
and  cleansed  and  blown  away  much  of  the  strength 
of  the  evil  spirit  within  him,  and  each  fight  had 
been  easier  to  win  than  the  preceding  one.  And 
now  to  have  this  come  to  him  from  the  outside 
world,  where  men  grow  strong  battling  with  human 
certainties,  not  with  the  slow-moving  uncertainties 
of  the  elements,  that  relax  one's  whole  being  into 
a  fatalistic  peace.  After  the  first  shock  of  the  news 
the  innate  national  distrust  of  journalistic  verities 
reasserted  itself  in  Fellowes'  mind,  and  he  made 
for  himself  a  tourniquet  of  doubt  to  stop  the  bleed- 
ing of  his  wound. 

As  far  as  Dora's  watchful  eyes  saw  her  husband's 
figure  coming  in  the  yellow  light,  she  noted  with  a 
return  of  the  old  terror  a  change  in  his  bearing. 
She  waited  for  him  at  the  gate,  within  which  was 
the  unpurchasable  peace  and  beauty  of  a  home,  re- 
deemed from  that  dry  commercialism  beyond  the 
low  white  fence. 

There  was  a  small  two-story  frame  house,  less 
than  commonplace  save  for  the  Virginia  creeper 
that  burned  its  fingers  on  the  chimneys  and  only 
then  withdrew ;  and  the  fuchsias  that  peered  saucily 
into  the  nursery  windows  on  the  second  floor.  Be- 
low, a  lawn  surrounded  the  house,  and  flower-beds, 

292 


THE    WIFE'S    REWARD 

and  trees  sheltered  from  the  burning  sun;  palms 
and  eucalyptus,  lemon-trees,  towering  magnolias, 
prunes  and  almonds ;  and  under  a  great  pepper-tree 
a  hammock  hung,  with  books  and  magazines  on 
the  grass  below  it.  Julie  and  Mammy  swung  in 
it.  Dell's  voice  rang  out  singing  somewhere  in  the 
rambling  house.  It  was  a  home  in  fact  to  which 
Kent  returned  from  the  rugged  'raising  ranges'  out- 
side, that  bloomed  only  for  the  market-place. 

His  quiet  greeting  of  Dora  at  the  gate  dispelled 
at  once  her  fear,  but  replaced  it  by  another  less 
defined. 

"Was  there  no  mail,  Kent?"  cried  Dell  running 
down  the  path. 

"I  have  not  gone  for  it  yet,"  he  said  with  a 
gravity  that  changed  the  subject  in  that  sympa- 
thetic household. 

"I'll  take  de  horse  'round  toe  de  stable,  Cap'n. 
Ah  Song  he's  busy,  sah,"  said  Mammy  taking  the 
bridle  from  him,  quick  to  note  changes  in  the  moods 
about  her. 

He  went  into  the  house  where  he  removed  the 
ravages  of  the  day,  coming  to  the  dinner-table  with 
himself  well  in  hand,  and  wondering  a  little  at  the 
store  of  strength  within  him,  hitherto  unknown. 

Dora  noticed  that  after  the  meal  was  over  (when 
293 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

they  were  wont  to  sit  on  the  veranda  while  he 
smoked,  Dell  with  her  guitar  or  ukulele)  he  lighted 
neither  cigar  nor  pipe,  but  went  outside,  took  two 
whiffs  of  a  cigarette  and  tossed  it  out  on  the  lawn. 
Then  coming  to  the  door  he  called  out : 

"Dora,  are  you  very  busy?" 

"Did  you  ever  know  a  Talty  who  let  work  in- 
terfere with  pleasure?"  was  her  answer  going  to 
him  and  leaning  against  his  shoulder,  secure  in  the 
dark  that  now  enveloped  their  silent  world. 

"I  must  go  in  for  the  mail.  I  have  ordered  the 
top-buggy,  it  will  keep  a  little  of  the  dust  off.  Will 
you  get  on  your  things  and  come  with  me,  please, 
dear?  I  do  not  wish  to  be  alone  to-night." 

He  told  her  the  news  as  they  drove  through  the 
night  together. 

She  had  the  rare  tact  not  to  touch  him  in  his 
present  mood,  in  which  the  man  in  him  was  crying 
out  for  the  world  of  men.  She  asked  quick  direct 
questions,  and  took  the  answers  in  silence. 

At  the  post-office  they  found  an  excited  crowd 
of  men  and  boys,  gathered  from  all  the  surround- 
ing ranches  within  a  radius  of  fifteen  miles.  The 
old  familiar  forerunners  of  war-rumor  were  all 
there,  as  in  the  larger  cities  all  over  the  country  that 
night,  from  one  ocean  to  the  other.  The  relief  of 

294 


THE    WIFE'S    REWARD 

much  speech,  the  gathering  about  the  loudest 
speaker;  the  flaring  posters,  read  and  reread; 
cheers,  thin  only  through  smallness  of  number,  not 
the  lack  of  heart;  and  the  outlet  of  much  drinking, 
as  the  wires  remained  dumb  to  their  nervous  im- 
patience. 

Fellowes  gave  the  reins  to  his  wife,  in  front  of 
the  flaring  drug-store,  where  she  was  at  once  joined 
by  the  ambitious  young  apothecary,  who  mounted 
guard  over  her  with  an  eye  to  the  future,  having 
twice  laid  eyes  upon  a  red-haired  goddess  who  lived 
at  Los  Ojitos. 

The  crowd  of  men  instantly  gathered  with  shouts 
about  Fellowes,  proud  of  a  man  among  them  who 
knew  the  great  official  centre  to  which  the  eyes  of 
the  nation  were  turned.  In  telling  them  the  many 
reasons  why  there  might  yet  not  come  war,  he  con- 
vinced and  quieted  himself.  The  news  that  day 
made  of  many  states,  many  political  parties,  much 
social  unrest,  one  solid  people  under  one  flag; 
waiting  to  sign  their  names  to  the  rolls:  "Ready 
and  willing  to  march,"  as  in  the  old  days  when  the 
continental  army  was  being  gathered  together  all 
over  the  land. 

When  nothing  else  was  to  be  wrung  out  of  the 
town,  Kent  and  Dora  went  home. 

29$ 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

Night  after  night  through  all  those  weeks  of 
suspense  from  that  early  spring  day,  Dora  went 
with  Kent  for  the  mail  and  they  counted  together 
in  breathless  silence  those  few  pulse-beats  of  the 
outer  world,  that  came  to  them  in  their  isolation. 

And  then  the  day  came  when  the  news  flew  out 
to  the  Works,  that  the  slow  wrath  of  a  great  na- 
tion poured  itself  out  in  the  three  words :  "War  is 
declared!" 

Beyond  all  imagining  Fellowes  tasted  torment 
from  that  moment,  trebled  by  the  questions  asked 
by  men  about  him,  ending  in  the  hideous  iteration: 
"How  will  it  affect  you,  Captain,  d'yer  mind  telling 
us?"  "I'm  officially  as  good  as  dead,  that's  all," 
he  would  say,  and  turn  and  fly  from  them.  Then 
when  it  became  unbearable,  he  went  home.  Nor 
was  there  any  peace  there,  although  the  questions 
ceased,  as  he  did  not  tell  them  then  the  news,  at  last 
authenticated  beyond  all  further  doubting. 

Dora's  heart  shrivelled  up  in  her  breast,  as  she 
saw  him  start  alone  in  the  buggy  after  dinner,  not 
even  asking  her  to  join  him  as  usual.  At  the  gate 
she  ran  to  him  and  begged  to  be  taken,  and  he 
scarcely  answered  her  in  unwonted  discourtesy  that 
told  her  the  worst. 

Lashing  the  horse  he  dashed  out  through  the 
296 


THE    WIFE'S    REWARD 

night,  the  devil  in  him  thoroughly  aroused.  He 
wanted  to  be  alone !  He  was  sick  and  tired  of  re- 
straint. Tired  of  the  dreary  round  of  uncongenial 
work  amidst  his  mental  inferiors;  tired  of  the  tiny 
space  within  the  low  white  fence,  with  the  flowers 
and  trees  just  the  same,  month  in  and  month  out; 
tired  of  the  staring  blue  sky  that  never  veiled  its 
brazen  face;  tired  of  the  women,  Dell,  Mammy, 
and  yes — sometimes  tired  of  Dora  too,  God  bless 
her!  tired  of  his  child,  soul-sick  for  the  old  life. 

And  now — ah,  he  could  see  it  all !  The  repressed 
fierce  joy  in  all  their  hearts;  no  longer  drooping  in 
routine.  The  ship's  report-book  empty  of  names. 
The  topers,  sober;  the  lazy  ones,  working  like  bees; 
the  sullen  men,  laughing  in  loud  bursts;  the  indif- 
ferent, alert  and  keen  of  eye.  And  the  ward-room ! 
Each  face  came  before  him  transformed  in  its  own 
way  by  this  miracle  of  promised  combat  for  the 
nation's  name  and  fame. 

Dashing  along  through  the  clouds  of  stifling 
dust,  the  light  vehicle  swaying  from  side  to  side  at 
every  turn,  the  horse  responsive  to  the  man's  mad- 
dened mood,  alone,  beyond  all  human  aid — Kent's 
great  punishment  came  to  him  in  that  hour  under 
the  quiet  skies,  and  he  cursed  the  day  he  was  born 
into  the  world. 

297 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

And  when  the  game  of  battle  was  fairly  on !  His 
memory  abetted  by  imagination,  spared  him  noth- 
ing. His  ship  was  there  before  his  wide  staring 
eyes,  and  every  animate  and  inanimate  thing  upon 
it.  Pehoe  on  the  bridge,  within  the  double  ring  of 
hammocks  rolled  and  on  end,  lashed  all  around; 
his  eyes  riveted  to  the  glass  turned  upon  the  enemy, 
still  miles  away.  The  ship  had  been  cleared  for 
action  weeks  before.  Into  the  silence  tears  the 
furious  tantara  of  the  drums  beating  to  general 
quarters;  the  electric  gongs  gone  mad  in  every 
compartment — this  furor  for  several  minutes. 
And  then  a  voice  from  the  bridge:  "Silence!" 
"Cast  loose  and  provide!"  the  order  echoed  and 
re-echoed  by  each  division  officer  on  the  decks  be- 
low, "That  was  Jack's  voice — heaven  help  me, 
that  was  Jack  1"  Kent  cried  aloud. 

"Load!  common  shell!  Range  4,000  yards! 
Train  on  the  enemy,  commence  firing!"  One  voice 
after  another  called  out,  Nugent's  and  again  Tal- 
ly's, and  each  divisional  officer  as  his  guns  began 
to  bear.  He  heard  Russell's  high  clear  voice,  Rus- 
sell who  had  taken  his  place  on  the  "Boston"  I  the 
little  niche  he  occupied  so  easily  filled  by  another; 
another  man  had  charge  of  his  guns,  cheered 
on  or  held  in  check  his  gun-crews,  of  eager  men  half 

208 


THE    WIFE'S    REWARD 

mad  with  excitement,  only  kept  under  by  a  disci- 
pline relaxed  to  suit  the  moment,  and  a  cool  clear 
head  that  saw  only  essentials.  And  gun  after  gun 
thundered  out  over  the  water.  The  ship's  routine 
went  to  the  winds !  The  men  roared  when  a  shot 
told,  and  roared  when  one  fell  short,  cursed,  and 
stamped  their  feet,  beating  their  great  black  hands 
together,  frantic  with  the  inevitable  restraint  of  the 
ship's  confining  space ;  there  being  no  outlet  for  en- 
ergy like  a  dash  of  infantry  or  cavalry,  up  and  on, 
following,  ever  onward !  Oh  1  it  was  easy  ashore, 
but  here  tied  down  in  a  hole,  the  shot  only  could 
represent  their  courage,  their  fervor,  their  frenzy 
of  energy.  The  aim  was  corrected  in  quiet  voices 
by  the  divisional  officers,  and  now  and  then: 
"Steady,  men,  we  can't  afford  to  waste  any  shots" 
— and  "old  Dennis"  (Fellowes'  gun  captain,  now 
Russell's)  sings  out  "no  fear!"  And  the  men 
laugh.  And  Kent  saw  with  burning  eyes  that  in- 
corrigible old  drunkard  come  into  his  best  estate, 
cool,  stung  to  miracles  of  marksmanship.  Every 
now  and  then  he  tested  the  firing  battery  of  his  own 
gun  by  placing  the  terminals  on  his  tongue  and 
closing  the  circuit,  with  the  air  of  a  Faraday  in 
his  laboratory  and  then  crying  out:  "Ah,  but  we'll 
put  the  fear  of  God  in  their  hearts  this  day !"  And 

299 


PEACE   AND   THE   VICES 

the  crew  about  howled  their  approval,  and  Russell 
smiled  upon  them  like  the  wise  man  he  was;  and 
sought  to  spare  them  from  their  frantic  eagerness. 
Like  one  in  a  dream,  Kent  heard  the  rush  of  the 
ammunition  rapidly  "whipped  up"  the  shoots;  the 
powder-men  receiving  it,  knocking  open  the  boxes 
with  battle-axes,  and  when  empty,  throwing  or 
kicking  them  overboard ;  the  two  cadets  under  Rus- 
sell sought  to  stop  it,  but  he  checked  them:  "Give 
'em  a  loose  rein,  boys,  it  only  frets  'em."  The 
splash  of  the  enemy's  return  shots  was  lost  in  all 
that  uproar,  and  only  the  first  lieutenant  in  the  con- 
ning tower  gave  them  a  thought,  up  somewhat 
above  the  deafening  din  below.  The  constantly 
changing  ranges  repeated  by  hoarser  and  hoarser 
calls ;  the  division  officers  each  working  out  his  sal- 
vation, doing  his  own  exhorting,  flattering,  restrain- 
ing of  his  gunners,  like  children  in  his  hands. 

"And  I  'to  stay  scabbarded'  here!"  yelled  Fel- 
lowes,  shaking  his  fist  at  the  sky  above  him,  that 
drove  him  frantic  by  its  very  peacefulness.  The 
horse  neighed  at  his  voice  and  Kent  laughed  aloud, 
art  ugly  laugh  that  told  of  desperation.  And  in 
that  mood,  shaken  from  head  to  foot,  his  teeth  set, 
he  reached  the  little  town.  Instead  of  hitching  the 
horse  he  took  it  to  the  stable,  a  significant  action 

300 


THE    WIFE'S    REWARD 

not  lost  on  the  pair  of  eyes  watching  him  from  the 
drug-store  across  the  broad  unpaved  street. 

Fellowes  stood  a  moment  looking  at  the  knots 
of  excited  men  before  each  flaring  saloon.  His  life 
was  his  own  to  throw  away  if  he  chose !  But  even 
as  he  piled  fuel  on  the  fire  of  his  despair,  he  sud- 
denly became  conscious  that  there  was  no  answering 
flame  within  him,  no  genuine  desire  for  drink's  res- 
pite. It  would  be  but  coaxing  embers  into  life  if 
he  did  evil  that  night.  Half  stunned  by  this  self- 
revelation  and  too  excited  fully  to  grasp  its  tre- 
mendous import,  he  started  slowly  for  the  post- 
office. 

"Oh,  Cap'n,  hyar's  two  telegrams  fer  you,  sah, 
an'  dey's  marked  'rush'  de  gent'man  at  de  pos'- 
office  says;"  and  there  stood  Mammy  breathing 
heavily  before  him. 

"What  are  you  doing  in  town  this  time  of  day?" 
he  asked  coldly,  suspiciously;  showing  his  re- 
pugnance to  a  presence  beside  him  that  night  so 
foreign  to  his  mood.  An  influence  impossible  to 
ignore  absolutely,  or  to  get  roughly  rid  of  as  he 
might  have  any  other  of  the  servants.  He  stood 
and  looked  at  her  affectionate  smile,  helplessly. 
Then  bethought  him  of  his  telegrams,  and  with 
her  at  his  heels,  he  went  across  the  street  to  the  little 

301 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

stuffy,  oil-smelling  public  parlor  of  the  only  hotel 
in  town,  and  tore  the  first  one  open,  and  leaned  over 
to  read  it  by  the  smoking  lamp. 

He  read  and  reread  and  still  found  incompre- 
hensible the  contents: 

WASHINGTON,   D.  C.,  April  25,  1898. 

Lieutenant  Kent  Fellowes,  U.  S.  Navy,  Los  Ojitos  Ranch, 
Seeley,  California. 

Promise  not  forgotten. 

GRACE  TITTERINGTON. 

Bewildered  by  recent  mental  stress  he  stood 
erect  a  moment  and  stared  blankly  at  Mammy; 
then  suddenly  remembering  the  other  despatch  he 
opened  it,  and  the  gates  of  life  swung  open  before 
him,  and  night  was  day,  and  all  things  right  in  the 
world !  Addressed  like  the  other,  this  read : 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  April  25,  1898. 
Remainder  of  suspension   remitted.     Proceed  immedi- 
ately  New  York.     Report   Commandant   for  duty   on 
"Indiana."  MORGAN,  Secretary. 

The  great,  almost  overwhelming,  revulsion  of 
feeling,  made  him  stagger  for  a  moment,  and 
Mammy  feared  she  had  been  too  late,  with  all  her 
almost  uncanny  intuition  to  help  her.  Then  he 

302 


THE    WIFE'S    REWARD 

sprang  forward  and  took  the  astonished  old  wom- 
an by  the  hand,  and  tears  of  pain  stood  in  her  eyes 
when  he  let  it  go. 

"Dear  old  Mammy  Lina !  I  want  you  to  come 
home  with  me  at  once.  I  have  news,  great  news — 
I  must  talk,  I  must  talk  it  out  or  I'll  go  mad !  As 
you've  got  the  mail,  we'll  go  at  once." 

"Well,  Cap'n,  I  cum  in  de  market-wagon  wid 
dat  deah  ole  Ah  Song.  I — er — I'se  got  de  same 
misery  I  gets  eb'ry  spring  in  my  lef  laig,  an'  I  cum 
toe  de  'poth'cary  shop,  sah,  fo'  ter  have  my  green 
pills  made  up,  yas,  sah."  Whenever  she  had  ac- 
complished a  rather  special  thing  in  lies,  she  always 
reaffirmed  her  statement  at  the  finish. 

Fellowes  hustled  her  across  the  street  to  the 
stable  where  a  somewhat  astonished  boy  brought 
out  the  horse  and  buggy,  not  yet  unhitched.  Then 
he  bundled  her  in,  crying: 

"Hang  Ah  Song!  Hang  the  market-wagon, 
home  you  go  with  me !"  And  she  scrutinized  him 
closely  and  sighed,  thinking  that  the  poison  was 
somehow  already  in  his  veins. 

The  lounging  farmers  called  out  after  him  their 
disappointment  at  having  no  chance  for  a  word, 
to-night  of  all  nights,  when  the  whole  countryside 
was  in  town,  wild  with  excitement  at  the  news.  But 

303 


PEACE   AND    THE   VICES 

heedless  of  all  but  the  one  supreme  piece  of  news 
he  had  to  tell  Dora  (now  returned  to  him  on  a 
great  wave  of  tenderness)  he  sent  his  horse  flying 
down  the  street,  and  out  into  the  blackness  beyond ; 
and  Mammy  hung  on  for  dear  life,  catching  her 
breath,  what  between  the  dust  and  the  speed.  She 
only  hoped  the  long  drive  home  through  the  cool 
night  air  would  quiet  him  a  little  before  they 
reached  Miss  Dora. 

"O  Mammy,  Mammy  I  it's  such  a  good  glad  old 
world,  isn't  it?"  he  exulted,  innocent  of  her 
maligning  thoughts. 

"I  ain'  seen  no  tick'lar  change,  sah,  since  I  went 
over  dis  road  befo',"  she  answered  with  resent- 
ment. 

"It's  the  happiest  day  of  my  whole  life  I"  he 
went  on,  his  eyes  running  far  ahead  in  their  im- 
patience. 

"Shorely,  Cap'n,  not  countin'  de  mawnin'  yer 
done  took  Miss  Dora  fo'  yer  very  own !"  the  wom- 
an remonstrated  peevishly. 

He  had  received  many  telegrams  and  she  had 
never  seen  him  like  this. 

"You  mustn't  be  scared,  Mammy  dear,  if  I  give 
one  great  grand  shout,  that  starts  from  my  toes, 
just  to  keep  from  bursting  with  joy  1" 

304 


THE    WIFE'S    REWARD 

"Yell  away,  Cap'n,  if  it's  any  sorter  comfort  ter 
yer,  honey,"  she  said  with  a  sob  and  a  sniffle,  thank- 
ful poor  little  Miss  Dora  was  not  there  to  hear 
him  rave. 

Then  he  asked  her  why  she  was  so  unhappy,  and 
after  some  hesitation,  she  told  him.  And  there  was 
a  short  silence,  and  then  gravely,  like  himself,  he 
told  her  the  truth ;  and  a  little  later  the  two  arrived 
home  in  a  perfect  gale  of  laughter  and  loud  talk- 
ing, which  Dora  heard  with  dread  and  slipped 
out  to  the  gate,  with  eyes  so  full  of  pain,  that 
Adele  went  at  once  to  her  room  with  a  sinking 
heart. 

But  once  realizing  that  it  was  Mammy  with  her 
husband,  she  knew  all  would  somehow  be  well,  and 
stood  and  wondered  how  it  had  come  to  pass.  They 
had  not  even  missed  her. 

And  then  Kent  went  to  his  wife  and  put  his  arm 
about  her,  and  directed  their  steps  to  the  ham- 
mock, swinging  ghost-like  under  the  pepper-tree. 
Seating  her  gently  in  it,  he  knelt  on  the  soft  deep 
grass  beside  her,  his  head  upon  her  knees.  She  had 
known  the  instant  that  he  touched  her  that  he  had 
not  been  drinking,  and  she  waited  for  him  to  speak, 
her  hands  lying  softly  on  his  head.  Then  he  looked 
up,  and  kissed  her  and  drew  her  white  shawl  more 

305 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

closely  about  her  with  his  old  tenderness,  and  he 
whispered : 

"I  owe  everything  to  you,  my  wife — every  good 
that  has  come  to  me,  every  evil  that  has  been  kept 
from  me.  And  to  you,  on  my  knees,  I  bring  your 
reward ;  for  that,  I  know  is  the  dear,  unselfish  way 
you'll  look  at  it." 

"Reward?"  she  whispered. 

"Dora,  Dora,  my  darling — my  sentence  is  re- 
mitted !  I  am  back  on  the  active  list  and  war  was 
declared  to-day  I"  he  burst  out,  not  meaning  in  the 
least  to  tell  her  thus  brutally,  but  borne  off  his  feet 
by  the  fact  itself  and  the  strong  sense  of  haste  im- 
posed by  the  wording  of  the  Secretary's  order. 

She  raised  both  arms  above  his  head,  and  sobbed 
out: 

"Thank  God!  O  Kent,  thank  God  with  me! 
If  He  had  asked  me  what  I  most  wanted  I  should 
have  said  exactly  that!  To  have  you  back  once 
more  in  the  midst  of —  Kent !"  she  cried  suddenly 
struggling  to  her  feet:  "Kent,  what  was  that  you 
said  just  now  ?  War  is  declared — did  you  say  that  ? 
And  you  go  at  once?  Let  me  see  the  orders — 
quick,  let  me  see  the  orders !"  He  lighted  several 
matches  and  held  them  bunched  while  her  eyes 
flashed  over  the  open  telegram  of  the  Secretary. 

306 


THE    WIFE'S    REWARD 

"What  does  'immediately'  mean?"  she  panted. 

"Within  twelve  hours,"  he  said;  and  then  took 
her  into  his  arms  and  sought  to  comfort  her. 
Fighting  down  her  own  terrors  at  a  cost  to  herself 
that  he  never  knew,  presently  she  said  brokenly, 
with  now  and  then  a  little  laugh,  dabbing  at  her 
eyes  impatiently: 

"Dear,  I  want  you  to  understand  and  remember 
after  you  are  gone  that  all  these  silly  old  tears  are 
from  pure  excitement.  I  want  you  to  go !  Do  you 
suppose  I'd  let  you  stay  away  out  of  it!  Why, 
I'd  hate  you  if  you  were  not  mad  to  go  back  into  it 
all,  and  have  your  chance  with  the  rest!  Life  is 
something  more  than  three  meals  a  day,  isn't  it, 
dear?  There  are  great  big  moments  of  living  that 
sweep  one's  soul  clean,  aren't  there,  Kent?  And 
you  will  be  the  happier,  the  better,  the  stronger 
for  it,  I  think.  Who  is  it  says :  'Go  seek  thy  peace 
in  war'?" 

"My  love,  my  brave  little  wife,"  he  murmured 
with  hidden  face,  "I  shall  with  your  help — and 
heaven's — never  again  betray  your  trust  and  my 
country's — I  know  it  to-night!" 

Then  she  felt  her  control  slipping  away  from 
her,  and  she  reached  into  his  pocket  for  the  mail  and 
scolded  him,  and  bade  him  take  it  in  to  Adele,  who 

307 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

knew  the  China  mail  was  due;  and  so  she  bought 
a  moment's  solitude.  As  Kent  rose  to  go,  she  said : 

"Do  not  tell  her  the  news  that  war  is  declared. 
To-morrow  will  do.  Let  her  be  happy  with  her 
letters.  Warn  Mammy."  And  while  he  was  gone 
her  repressed  agony  found  vent,  and  the  quiet  night 
stooped  and  held  her  in  its  arms. 

"Dell,  Dell,  where  are  you?"  called  Kent 
through  the  house. 

A  voice  from  above  replied  and  the  girl  ran 
down  the  stairs. 

"  'Cherries  are  ripe, 
Cherries  are  ripe, 
But  baby  shall  have  none!'  " 

he  teased,  holding  several  letters  high  above  her 
head. 

To  his  surprise  her  eyes  filled  with  tears,  the 
corners  of  her  mouth  went  down  like  a  hurt  child's, 
and  she  made  no  attempt  to  reach  her  letters. 

"Why,  girlie,  what's  the  matter?" 

"I — I  thought  he  had  not  written,"  she  whim- 
pered. Kent  laughed  and  took  her  by  the  shoulders 
and  led  her  to  the  sitting-room  lamp  and  looking 
into  her  quivering  face,  he  exclaimed: 

"Well,  Leigh  Robb  has  really  captured  you, 
308 


THE    WIFE'S    REWARD 

hasn't  he?  And  he  holds  you  in  his  hand  here, 
there,  everywhere,  you  little  rascal  of  a  woman! 
He's  a  brave  man,  and  a  Prince  Hal  for  self-confi- 
dence to  trust  you." 

Adele  was  once  more  the  pretty  malapert,  and 
smiled  up  at  her  brother-in-law  from  under  heavy 
brows : 

"Trust  me?  Here?  He  knows  Ah  Song's  the 
only  bachelor  on  the  place.  Why,  Kent,  if  it  wasn't 
for  a  few  old  photographs,  I'd  forget  what  a  mar- 
ketable man  looked  like!" 

Kent  shook  his  head  at  her  and  his  happy  laugh 
told  Dora  that  her  sister  was  with  him,  and  even 
amidst  her  tears,  she  smiled. 

"And  then — "  Adele  paused. 

"And  then?"  Kent  mocked. 

"He  wrote  last  mail  that  he  trusted  to  the  all- 
pervading  orange  blossoms  at  'Los  Ojitos'  to  re- 
mind me  every  hour  of  the  day  and  night,  of — well, 
my  fast  approaching  fate."  Then  he  gave  her  the 
letters  and  she  flew  to  her  room,  singing  as  she  ran. 
And  Kent  went  out  once  more  to  his  wife,  to  whom 
quiet  had  come,  after  the  quick  sharp  storm. 

He  sat  down  beside  her  and  silently  gathered  her 
to  him,  and  cheek  against  cheek,  they  slowly  swung 
in  the  hammock  together  under  the  trees.  The 

3°9 


PEACE    AND    THE    VICES 

silence  was  only  broken  now  and  then  by  the  dis- 
tant creak  of  the  wind-mill  dragging  from  the 
depths  of  the  earth  the  moisture  denied  by  the  sky, 
which  alone  made  all  things  possible  in  that  west- 
ern land.  Again  stillness,  then  Julie's  little  plaint 
hushed  by  Mammy's  muted  lullaby;  a  moment 
later  the  twitter  of  a  sleepy  quarrel  for  space  in  a 
bird's  nest  above  them,  and  then  once  more  the 
soundless  perfumed  place.  Then  a  few  notes  on 
the  piano  broke  thrillingly  the  silence,  and  Adele's 
deep  pulsating  voice  floated  out  into  the  darkness, 
carrying  the  burden  of  her  love  and  longing: 

"  'Bend  low,  O  dusky  night,  and  give  my  spirit  rest. 

Give  back  the  lost  delight  that  once  my  soul  possessed.' ' 

And  about  them  Nature  held  all  things  within 
her  laws,  and  worked  on  in  silence  through  the 
night.  As  with  Julie,  so  with  the  budding  pushing 
leaves  on  the  orange-trees  that  reached  right  and 
left  to  the  horizon;  as  with  the  white  fragrant 
blossoms,  so  with  Adele  full  of  the  pain  and  ecstasy 
of  a  love  still  far  from  its  harvesting  time ;  as  with 
the  golden  fruit  coming  to  its  full  ripeness,  so  the 
wife,  rocked  in  the  greater  peace  of  life's  fruition. 


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